Ukrainian couple Kostyantyn and Olga Yermakov were awarded the key to the City of North Haven on Oct. 28 by First Selectman Michael Freda, a symbolic presentation of honor and welcome for their newly found home in the community.

“This is a symbol for how we welcome you and look forward to having you as part of our community for many years and for how much we will continue to support you,” said Freda.

The couple, along with their 16-year-old son Daniil, fled the violence in their native country following the Russian invasion in February. The family lived in the port city of Odesa while Kostyantyn worked as a senior ​​maître d on a Carnival Cruise ship where he met the Yermakov’s sponsor family, Jeanne Cavadini and Michael Friscia, in 2012. Kostyantyn was working on his ship line when the invasion came to Ukraine while Olga and Daniil were at home.

“I was just witnessing it from the side, just, ‘What is going on?,’” said Kostyantyn, fearing for his wife and son’s safety. “You look at the horizon, you see these flashes of explosions from the window. It’s really scary, you don’t know what’s next.”

Daniil, who was 15 at the time, was among the earliest Ukrainians to be evacuated from the country in March. He and numerous others walked across the border to Moldova to escape the eruption of violence. Packing in 20 minutes early one morning, Daniil began a three-day trek driving with another family from Odesa to walking more than 3 miles across the Moldovan border. From there, he flew from Bucharest, Romania to Vienna, Austria, where he reconnected with his mother, while his father was still working on his cruise line. Afterwards, Olga returned to Odesa, driving 11 hours through active war zones, while the decision concerning their next step became a confusing moment amidst the frantic and chaotic situation.

“I remember I was texting [Olga] and said, ‘I have three suitcases opened up on the floor,’ and then looking at them for a second. I didn’t know where to begin and how to finish,” said Konstyantyn.

Through the U.S. Embassy in Vienna, Daniil made it on his own to California, where he briefly attended school while living with friends of the Yermakovs. He eventually rejoined his parents in North Haven after completing ninth grade.

Konstyantyn reflected on the difficult past two years.

“If you look at the whole time period, there’s two years of COVID, [and] everything locked down. For two years, [Daniil] he didn’t go to school. Then he began, and then [arrived] the Russian attack. So everything stopped again. Imagine you’re a 15-year-old, alone traveling, people meeting and greeting you, and you come to the other side of the planet. It was a journey,” he said.

“He’s a strong boy,” Olga added.

While in Romania, the family contacted Cavadini and Friscia, whom Konstyantyn befriended on the cruise line for which he worked. Without hesitation, the couple applied to be their sponsor family, even with a short time frame with which to work.

“We applied the first week of August, and all of a sudden it’s approved, but that came in September. Now they had 90 days to get here. We couldn’t start apartment hunting seriously,” said Friscia.

Cavadini concurred with confusion surrounding the accelerated pace of ensuring they could help Konstyantyn and Olga. The couple had already been attempting to acquire a green card to immigrate to the U.S. for six years.

“It was like a catch-22. It was almost like putting the cart before the horse,” she said. “We picked them up at JFK [John F. Kennedy International Airport] at midnight. We thought we were going to be there for hours, but it was quick. We all crammed into a rented van, and their Connecticut visit was at 2 o’clock in the morning.”

While their house was too small for more than three people, Cavadini and Friscia worked with Freda to find the Yermakov family an apartment in town instead of having them stay in a hotel room, which would not be fit for their two Maine Coon cats. It was actually their cats that sparked the first conversation between Konstyantyn and Cavadini on the cruise, leading to their friendship.

“If you think about it, if it wasn’t for cats, maybe they wouldn’t be here,” said Cavadini with a laugh.

After their apartment was purchased and filled, Cavadini and Friscia created a “donor board” to commemorate their settlement in North Haven. The board featured photos of people who assisted the Yermakovs both financially and in helping find a supportive place to call home, including dental and eye care for Daniil and donations of furniture and food to fill their new apartment.

Konstyantyn reflected on the welcoming reception he and his family found when settling into their new home.

“I was speechless. Week after week, Jeanne is introducing us to more people, and it overwhelms you. When you see the attention from people around you, it’s a ‘wow’ impression. Then you look at our boy. He goes to school; there’s so much joy,” he said. “We’re not so different from other people. We are from another side of the planet, but at the end of the day, I think we have all the same values.”

Along with his support, Freda expressed his hope that members of the North Haven community will continue to support the Yermakovs and their new home in town.

“It’s not the end of the story. It’s the beginning of a new story. It’s going to be how this community will continue to embrace this family, help watch over them, and support them in whatever they need,” he said.

Despite the disturbances of viewing the ongoing violence in Ukraine that has affected their friends and family in ineffable ways, Olga is also taken not only by the support she and her family have from community members aware of their story, but by the world’s response to the war, and was pleased to see on television programs such as Our World, an up-close and genuine presentation of the Ukrainian people as strong and resilient against militaristic aggression.

“I’m really happy the world is united for Ukraine,” she said.