Eight months after 16-year-old Ukrainian student Sophia Hlushchenko submitted a video application to Indian River Charter High School’s international program, teachers and students are eagerly preparing for her arrival in Vero.

Among those spearheading the effort to raise the $20,000 to get Sophia out of Russian-occupied Ukraine and fund her travel and educational expenses is Alexsandra Anikina – Sasha to her friends – a 17-year-old junior in the international program.

Anikina, a Russian native, was touched by Hlushchenko’s plight, living in hiding with her mother. She befriended Hlushchenko online through email and Zoom calls and shared her own life story.

“I was 7 when my vocabulary was introduced to a new word – War,” Anikina said of her life in 2014, when Russia invaded Crimea, then part of Ukraine. “Something we learned about in history books or watched on movie screens had turned into a real, tangible thing. It was felt by everyone and yet they would pretend things are normal.”

Anikina’s parents’ divergent political views ripped the family apart. Her father staunchly supported Vladimir Putin’s government, and the military action in Crimea, while her mother opposed it.

“My mother, who is very outspoken, knew that soon things would change in Russia, therefore she decided to escape as soon as possible,” Anikina said. “I was 9 years old and moving seemed to be the only option.”

After her parents divorced, her mother met and married an American who helped them immigrate. “We were able to move with the help of my stepfather, who did a great amount of paperwork and documents to help us,” Anikina said, noting that they already had passports, but got vaccines, tests and interviewed for green cards.

At age 10, Anikina flew directly from Russia to the United States with her mother.

Anikina enrolled at Charter as a freshman when she was 13, but soon found herself struggling with a type of survivors’ guilt she said was “taunting and shameful, for having the chance to be free while people I loved and cared for did not.

“Life had become serene, calm and protected. We were no longer worried about the government or the attacks, and we could talk freely and have hope for tomorrow,” Anikina said, and yet she felt ashamed when she thought of loved ones left behind.

Her fear and nightmares were exacerbated in February 2022 when a new phase of the war broke out.

“Every day waking up, I would wish for the news to say something positive, check every article in hopes of any predictions, phone my family to make sure they are safe,” she said. “Now I am 17, and I have been given the opportunity to help someone with similar circumstances. Helping Sophia is not only a school project. For me it has become a way to show my connection with those who have been affected by the war in any way.”

Anikina is still able to communicate with her family in Russia.

“Thankfully, not all social media platforms are banned in Russia, yet, and we are able to contact our family members back home,” she said. “Although there are many topics we are not allowed to discuss over the phone in order to stay safe, I am still very grateful for the chance to hear their voices every day.”

Because Hlushchenko is in Russian-occupied territory under martial law, her journey to the United States must be strategically planned, and she will have to leave her mother behind.

Kelly Potter, Indian River Charter High School’s director of the International Program, said Hlushchenko expects to soon board a bus to Poland where she’ll get her visa and fly to America. “It appears they let females out of the country with little hesitance but are more stringent with the men.”

Potter said Hlushchenko is expected to arrive “sometime later this summer, prior to school starting.”

Despite the destruction and suffering, the countless casualties and the families torn apart, Anikina has not lost hope that someday the heartbreak will cease.

“These effects will leave long-lasting scars on the face of the society. However, this does not mean that things cannot be restored, rebuilt and relationships fixed,” she said.

A barrier island family has offered to host Hlushchenko at no cost, but Potter said Charter has more than 50 international students traveling to attend fall classes on the campus adjacent the Indian River State College Mueller Campus near the Indian River Mall and some of them still need a place to stay.

Anyone interested in hosting can reach Potter at kelly.potter@irch.org or (772) 567-6600.
This was the second in an occasional series.