RECENT news coverage of the present conflict in the Middle East has almost completely overshadowed the protracted Ukrainian Russian war which is never far from the minds of Chetwynd locals, the Stanislawskis, who are living it day in day out since it began almost two years ago.

Ukrainian born Helen Stanislawski, whose mother and siblings, and their families, all live in the western part of Ukraine, said it’s been a living nightmare since day one, all the time wondering if their family members on the other side of the world are safe.

“I constantly worry,” she said.

“No one is safe.

“We don’t know when a rocket is going to come out of the sky.”

While Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and his troops have managed to fend off a complete Russian takeover that began in February 2022, the Russians are not backing down and are continuing to fight with further heavy bombardment of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, last week.

Australia has been supporting the Ukrainian counter offensive against Russia and recently welcomed home defence personnel who have been training Ukrainian military recruits in the United Kingdom.

The Australian Government also recently announced a $186 million expansion and extension of “Operation Kudu”, an assistance mission to build additional capacity for Ukraine to defend their homeland.

But Helen was saddened that the media coverage of the Israel and Hamas conflict had overshadowed that of the Ukraine conflict.

“What about the Ukrainian children?” she said.

“So many of them have been taken to Russia.

“Nobody is talking about that anymore.

“Of course, those poor innocent people in (Gaza), but the victims in Ukraine … they’ve been forgotten.

“What you see on the TV … it’s actually a lot worse than that…you have no idea.”

The Stanislawskis are holding onto hope that Ukraine will prevail and believe that president Zelenksy can stave off a Russian victory.

“I can’t believe it is still going … it won’t be finished anytime soon … if he (Putin) wins, then he will go to the Baltic countries,” Helen said.

“That’s what he said he’s going to do … he said he’s not going to stop.

“We have to keep going though … we cannot let him (Putin) win.”

Helen and Nick draw strength from their immediate family in Australia.

“It’s really hard, but our grandkids keep us going,” she said.

“I try not to watch the news because it’s too much.”