By ALEX MALM

When Bohdanna “Dana” Fedan came to Newport as an exchange student she thought she would be in the United States for a short time.

Then the war in her home country of Ukraine began. She has been here ever since.

“I stayed here just because of the war,” said Dana.

That year was also the last time she saw her mother Natalia Fedan until June 3, 2022.

“Before she came here, we actually hadn’t seen each other since 2014,” Dana said.

Dana explained that her mother Natalia was able to escape Ukraine as part of the Uniting for Ukraine program. Dana and her boyfriend, Zachary Hannon, are able to sponsor her mother.

“We’re grateful to the American nation for providing us with those means for Ukrainians to come here,” Dana said. 

Dana, who is waiting for her Green Card, said that she was impressed by the efficiency of the program to apply and be approved; she said it took about a week.

“The Uniting for Ukraine program was much easier and much quicker than applying for a visa or anything like that,” said Dana.

Ward 3 Councilman Tim Howe said his daughter alerted him to a Facebook post from Dana who said that she was looking for ways to get her mother involved with the Warwick community.

Howe said he asked Council President Steve McAllister to invite Natalia to one of their meetings.

Howe, who along with Ward 5 Councilman Ed Ladouceur and Ward 4 Councilman Jim McElroy is a Cold War Veteran.  He said that it was difficult to see what is happening now in Ukraine.

“This means a lot to me,” said Howe.

McAllister made a proclamation to allow the Ukraine flag to be in the Council Chambers during the meeting as they honored Natalia who along with her daughter fought off tears.

Dana who translated for her mother said that her mother isn’t seeking immigration status in the United States. As part of the program, Natalia is allowed to stay in the United States while the war in Ukraine is going on.

Dana said Natalia is working on getting work authorization so she can work and pay taxes while she is here.

Dana said that her mother “despises this war and hates the Russians for years of deaths and tragedy they have caused us.”

“This tragedy united Ukrainians more than ever and now even previously “tolerant” to Russian culture and language Ukrainians are disgusted by them,” said Dana.

At this point Dana said that so many people have died that “every other house has lost someone.”

“We had friends and friends, family, my classmates from high school, university losing their limbs or die at war,” Dana said. “Our family is lucky enough: our brothers, nephews, brothers-in-law, are fighting and have been injured a few times but at least they are alive.”

Dana said that since coming to Warwick they have had a number of different tasks to do including going to immigration lawyers and being screened medically.

“We haven’t had much time to relax yet,” Dana said.

Despite that, Natalia was able to explore some things in the Ocean State so far.

“She went in the ocean for the first time,” Dana said.

Dana said that she hasn’t been able to take her mother to many places yet but has plans to take her to places like Niagara Falls, Boston and Newport.

Locally, Dana said that she is looking forward to taking her mother to places like Goddard Park.

“Warwick has so much to offer especially the ocean and friendly people,” Dana said.