Originally from Kryvyi Rih, a city in southern Ukraine which was first establish in the 17th century (1600s) by Zaporozhian Cossacks, the families have lived in Canada since Jan. 2023.
With a population of more than 600,000 people before the illegal invasion by Russia in February 2022, Kryviyi Rih is a mining and industrial hub.
Oksana and Khristina worked quickly to make the food for their first three customers, speaking Ukrainian to them as they started them off with borscht – a traditional beet soup.
Their husbands also work in construction in Sydney and they also came in for lunch, along with a number of people not from Ukraine.
“It was always my dream to live in Canada,” said Oksana, who spoke for the two of them since her English is better.
Before the war, Oksana said visa requirements to immigrate to Canada were very difficult, which is why they weren’t able to move before 2023. However, after the war, Canada changed these requirements to help Ukrainian people flee the war in their country and she was able to move to the country of her dreams.
