As Russia launches some of its biggest drone attacks on Ukraine, a young woman from Saskatoon is living in the midst of the escalation, helping troops near Kyiv. Shyan Semeniuk says she is committed to the cause of freedom, no matter the personal cost she has to pay. The 21-year-old visited Ukraine in 2018 and fell in love. She was planning to go back to study Ukrainian dance when the war broke out in 2022. “I was crushed. I got sick; I was just crushed. Then I found Ukrainian Patriot, and I thought, if this is my chance to go and help and do my part that way, then I would love to. I booked a flight, and I came,” Semeniuk told CTV News via Zoom from Ukraine. From that point on, she changed her plans and traded in her dancing goals for humanitarian aspirations. Her first trip was in March 2024, then she went again in January of this year and is back on her third trip. “We’re packing boxes, anything needed for the frontlines like medical supplies, bedding, and then we get to deliver it to the frontlines,” she said. She currently lives in the capital city in an apartment that is provided by the group Ukrainian Patriot, which was started by a woman who is originally from Saskatoon, Lana Niland. Semeniuk was in another city on Saturday during the attack on Kyiv but says the feeling among most people she talks to is that there will be more attacks here very soon. She has an air raid app on her phone to provide advanced notice of an attack, most of those are at night, she said. “You get a warning, it’s like, oh my gosh, like you kind of freak. The first time I was here, I was in Lviv for a couple of weeks alone. That was the scariest because I didn’t know where to go, what to do, but now that I’m with people, I’m a bit more comfortable,” she said. She talks to her mother daily, trying to ease her fears. “They were very uneasy about it. She would love if I were to just stay home, but unfortunately, she knows that’s not the case.” She has two weeks left in this tour of duty and has no plans to leave early. “I always say, I would die happy if it’s in Ukraine and doing this type of work. I know that’s crazy to say.” She pays for the travel out of her own pocket and says it’s worth every penny. Seeing a memorial in Maidan or Independence Square, just steps from where she lives, makes her want to do more. “There are all the flags of all the lost defenders, and if I see that, a switch goes in my brain, and I need to get back to work and fundraise and do anything I can to support this country,” she said. Her hope is that the war stops, but in the meantime, she plans to go back again and continue helping.
