WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) – Ukrainians in Kansas are continuing to fight for their home country one year after the 2022 Russian invasion. 

Feb. 24 marks the one year anniversary of the start of the war. Galyna Golyshevska, a Ukraine native, has watched the conflict unfold from Wichita. 

“I'm very proud of my country,” Golyshevska said. “I didn't know that we are brave, and I didn't know that we will fight for our land.” 

Over the last 12 months, the International Rescue Committee said 162 Ukrainian refugees have come to Kansas. In Wichita, IRC leaders provide services, including housing and employment programs, to 25. 

“I cannot say that it was hard,” Golyshevska said. “It was something that shocked me forever. I'm still in the process of recovery.”

Golyshevska said, from the first day of the war, she and her family in Wichita have worked to help people in Ukraine and refugees in the United States. In June, she collected over 700 pounds of basic needs, including clothes and medications, to ship to her hometown. 

“From the first day of the war, we started to help our people with financial support, with like, moving out from the country for the refugees,” she said. 

Now, she said her fight is not over; it just looks different. Today, Golyshevska is working for the IRC in Wichita, helping refugees from across the world, including Ukraine, adjust to life in the United States. 

"It's awesome to have all this community right now in Wichita,” Golyshevska said. “It's growing fast."

"I'm happy that they're here, and I see that all of them would like to help back in Ukraine. They're trying to do the propaganda like they're even being here. They're trying to help the Ukraine to win."

IRC leaders said they are expecting more Ukrainian families to arrive in Wichita soon. Executive Director Yeni Silva-Renteria said the best way to help is by volunteering. 

“They’re in survival mode,” Silva-Renteria said. “They're going through so many, so many traumatic events at once. And just for us to show that empathy for human beings, because we're all humans, and we all go through difficult things.”

Golyshevska said the Ukrainian army has proved itself over the past year, and she knows her home country will win the war. She said she is looking forward to visiting her family in Ukraine when the country is able to rebuild. 

“I know for sure that we will win,” she said. “We prove it like Ukrainians, we prove it that we are going to win this war.”