'We are all people': Ukraine teen who fled war shares his experiences with Diman students.
FALL RIVER — Students at Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School got a unique experience on Monday: the chance to hear directly from someone their age who has fled the war in Ukraine.
“We are all people. We have different passports… but we are all the same,” said Olek Lysyi, an 18-year-old student from Irpin, Ukraine who is spending a month in America.
About 30 Diman students and other community members gathered at the school on Monday to hear Lysyi recount his experiences.
He was there because of a connection he’s forged with Ashley Duffany, a history teacher at the high school. Duffany said she was on Instagram in March, a few weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, leaving messages of support for Ukrainians when Olek reached out to her to share information about what it was like on the ground in Ukraine. They corresponded for a few weeks about how the invasion was impacting him and his family, with Duffany relaying information to her students. He also participated in Zoom interviews with her students this past spring.
“We haven’t seen a war in Europe this large since World War II, so this is really interesting to me,” Duffany said. “The stuff that they’re going through is truly unfathomable to us as Americans living comfortably at home.”
In April, she and her husband offered to host Lysyi for a visit to the U.S.
“We saw it as a way for him to take a break and get his mind off all the turmoil that’s going on,” she said.
Ukrainian teen bonds with Diman teacher
After a months-long process to secure a visa, Lysyi arrived last month and will be here until mid-August, when he will return to Poland for his last year of high school. After he graduates, he ultimately hopes to attend college in the U.S., he said.
“Boston reminds me of Kiev,” with its tall skyscrapers, he said. “Fall River is pretty; it reminds me of my city.”
Lysyi left Ukraine for Poland just three days before the war started. If he had waited, he would have been made to stay in Ukraine, as all men between the ages of 18 and 60 are currently barred from leaving Ukraine in case they get called into military service.
On Monday, he recalled harrowing phone calls with his mother back home before his parents ultimately relocated to Switzerland, where they have a family friend.
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“To hear planes in the background like that, it’s terrible,” he said. “Each time I called my mom, I was afraid she wouldn’t pick up.”
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Some of his extended family members are still in Ukraine, and several of his friends are serving in the Ukrainian military.
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He relayed accounts he’s heard from friends still in Ukraine about the Russian military’s scorched earth approach to the war, killing civilians and leaving their bodies in the street. While in Ukraine, he lived near a major airport that has since been destroyed by Russian bombs.
“I don’t think I will ever go back. Eighty percent of my city is destroyed,” he said.
Lysyi compared Putin to Hitler, saying that his access to military weapons makes the Russian president in some ways even scarier.
He said he loves being in the U.S., but urged the audience to remember that people living elsewhere face serious challenges.
“You’re not afraid of war, right?” he asked. “You don’t think that tomorrow you might have to live somewhere else.”
Diman Assistant Superintendent Principal Andrew Rebello said Lysyi’s visit is a continuation of the type of education Diman tries to give students.
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“Something you hear at Diman a lot is getting kids ‘life ready,’” he said. “Part of that is getting kids to have global perspectives, so they’re thinking about things happening across the nation and the world.”
Audrey Cooney can be reached at acooney@heraldnews.com. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Herald News today.
This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Ukrainian teenager shares experiences with Diman students
