Saskatoon woman’s mother arrives from Ukraine after winning airline ‘lottery’

A Ukrainian woman fleeing her war-torn home country literally won a lottery to get to Canada with the help of her daughter in Saskatoon.

Aniuta Kostiuk has been in Canada for the past 14 years. She arrived in 2008 at the age of 18 with her then-fiance and since has kept in close touch with her family in Ukraine.

When the war broke out in late February, she worried about her mother, Nataliia Kostiuk, whom Aniuta hadn’t seen for four years and who lived alone. Kostiuk’s sister-in-law in Ukraine convinced Nataliia to leave the country with several other relatives.

“She had a surgery on her leg at the end of January and it’s not healing well,” Aniuta said.

Nataliia and several other relatives left their hometown in the Kyiv area on March 7.

“It took them two days to get to Poland,” Aniuta recalled. “It took them 16 hours or something like that to get on a train.

“In the train, they spent 18 hours there sitting on the floor. Kids were sleeping on the floor. There was no other choice. They got to Lviv and spent the night there, and got on another train to cross the border.”

Aniuta Kostiuk. (Lara Fominoff/650 CKOM)

Once they were safely in Poland on March 9, the next challenge was to get to Canada somehow. Nataliia already had a visa, but no money for a flight if and when one became available.

“I saw a post on Facebook from Ukrainian (Canadian) Congress Alberta,” Aniuta said. “Polish airlines, they donated one plane to go to Edmonton to pick up donations and they decided to give out free tickets to people.”

Kostiuk submitted the necessary paperwork and was told there was going to be a draw for tickets. Nataliia ended up being one of the lucky passengers to get a free ticket to Edmonton.

“I didn’t know until the evening of Saturday (March 26), which is morning in Poland, that she was the one; she’s coming,” Aniuta said. “So she’s got less than 24 hours to get on the plane and do the COVID test and it was pretty tense.

“You’re waiting for something and it’s happening and I think, ‘Is it reality? Is it a dream?’ ”

Prior to her mother’s lucky win, Kostiuk considered borrowing some money so her family could fly to Saskatoon.

“I’m a single mom of three kids,” she said. “I was freaking out. What am I going to do? I work in a bank and I was like, ‘I’m just going to take out a loan.’ Tickets (are) priced ridiculous right now. (A) one-way ticket to Saskatoon I’ve seen for $1,200, $1,300.”

On March 28, Kostiuk was notified that Nataliia would be arriving at an Edmonton airport. Kostiuk got in her car and drove from Saskatoon to meet her mother.

“My heart was racing all the time,” she said. “I walked into the airport and I waited 2 1/2 hours with all of those procedures from Immigration. And then I saw her and I just started crying. I don’t cry much, but that was a moment … I was just so thankful.”

The two left the airport the same night and made it back to Saskatoon by 4 a.m. the following morning.

“It was crazy. It was not the smartest decision I made, but I was so excited,” Kostiuk said with a laugh.

Nataliia now has an open work permit for three years from the federal government, and she can apply for a Saskatchewan Health card as well. She’s hoping to find work as a teacher.

Aniuta is now hoping her four other relatives can also make it to Canada. Their visa applications are approved, and they’re waiting on passports for the end of April.

Once in Canada, everyone will be sharing Kostiuk’s basement. Beds have been donated through various community organizations.

“It’s hard to ask for help … but it’s time to ask for help for my family,” Kostiuk said. “Everybody we know is so amazing. Some people have offered English lessons for free.”

And she’s grateful for everyone’s help.

“It’s amazing how the community gets together,” Kostiuk said.