Asylum in Ukraine remembers coming to Monterey County on the anniversary of the Russian invasion

MONTEREY, CA (KION-TV): Today marks one year since the start of the war in Ukraine. Some refugees who escaped the violence made it to the Central Coast.

At 18, you wouldn’t think your country would be at war, leaving behind your belongings, friends, and family.

But that happened to Lyubov Lagoda, who fled Ukraine to Monterey last April with her husband.

“This is the worst scene I have ever seen,” Lahoda said.

Read more: Russian couple sponsors 9 Ukrainian refugees in Marina

Her parents, brother and other relatives are still in war-torn Ukraine, now under Russian rule. The anniversary of the war gives her dark feelings, especially since her family is still stuck at home.

“Unbelievable, because in my country, Ukraine, I had everything,” Lagoda said. “Of course, the family that I don’t have here now, my family is overseas, it’s so far away.”

The Biden administration is spending billions to help Ukraine, and there is some concern that attention to domestic issues is being ignored. Political analyst Andrés Quintero said some political parties and families have noticed that issues like inflation and homelessness in the US are harder to address if the money is going to war.

“A huge amount of money being spent on overseeing a war that seems to span half the globe,” Quintero said. “And they see a lot of problems here at the local level – homelessness and things like that, from their point of view, are not being solved.”

The city of Monterey’s website has a wealth of resources for Ukrainian refugees. Webpage: Monterey.org.

Carmel by the Sea Rotary Foundation also helps raise funds for refugees. You can reach out and donate here.