Former Arnold Woman Now Lives In War-Torn Ukraine

Growing up in Arnold, Claire Woodfin didn’t imagine that she would someday find herself living in the middle of a war.

Woodfin met her Ukrainian husband in 2019.  He was her student online, and their friendship grew while they both taught English.

Before settling into her new married life in a rural southern region of Kyiv in 2020, she had visited Ukraine only a few times.

“People who have never been to Ukraine don’t realize that it is a very vibrant, colorful country with people living free and happy lives,” Woodfin said. “The values here are more like the European Union (EU) than the Eastern bloc countries.”

That “colorful country” was invaded by Russia in February 2022.

“When the war first began, signs to towns and villages were covered by tarps or taken down so that Russian soldiers did not know what area they were in,” Woodfin said. “The Russian soldiers can’t have cellphones and the old Russian tanks don’t have GPS capabilities.”

The biggest boost to Ukrainian morale and fighting was the shipment of arms from the United States, Woodfin said.

“The weapons gave the Ukrainians a lot of hope, and the improved weapons are no match for the old ones used by the Russians,” Woodfin said. “I haven’t seen any fighting in this area, but the air raid sirens used to go off a lot when the war first began, now it is only occasionally, and it is not for the lesser populated rural areas.”

Woodfin is proud to see how Ukrainians have responded to the Russian invasion.

“Ukrainians are proud, strong, and resourceful people and are especially united in their hatred toward Russia, which has been their oppressor for nearly 200 years,” Woodfin said.

Woodfin lives with her husband’s family. At one point during the war, her in-laws’ house was sheltering 13 extra family members who left their home for safety. Woodfin’s in-laws run errands and bring back supplies so she can stay safely at home with her 10-month-old son.

“Ukrainians now work and shop in areas not directly under threat; their attitude is that the enemy will not crush their spirit or life with the war,” Woodfin said. “Rural life started looking more normal when the weather got warmer and the threat of large groups of people being targeted with bombs lessened in areas not under siege.”

Woodfin said supplies are not as scarce as they used to be, and shipping is another aspect of life that the Ukrainians are determined to not be affected by the war.

“Ukrainians are not hoarders; they are community-minded and will share supplies among neighbors and friends,” Woodfin said. “When I needed diapers, my mother-in-law got some from friends in the neighborhood until they were available for purchase.”

Despite that unity from the Ukrainian people, the war is creating many challenges.

“I want people in the U.S. to know that in occupied areas and on frontlines, life is hell,” Woodfin emphasized. “In most unoccupied areas, everyone is doing everything they can to live normally, as a way of defying the Russians. There are times where I don't feel the war, where I don't hear a siren, for days. But that sense of tedious normalcy can be shattered any minute by a missile, or maybe even something worse, and we live with that tension — as well as the grief — for what others in the country are going through.”

Woodfin’s husband filters the war news to keep his wife from getting anxious. For anyone who can help, she recommends donating to the National Bank of Ukraine and other humanitarian aid efforts.

“We are a family,” Woodfin said. “I will not leave Ukraine until my husband is not duty bound because of the war and can leave freely with me and our son.”