Distraught dad tells story of how his family’s been split apart by conflict in Ukraine

 By Amy Reast & Ed Cullinane via SWNS

A distraught dad says his family has been split apart by the conflict in Ukraine - as his daughter's mom is unable to get a visa to live with them in the US.

David Korpiewski, 45, claims chaos brought on by the war is preventing his Ukrainian partner entering the States.

David, who lives in Millers Falls, Massachusetts, and Iryna Bobukh, 43, share 10-year-old daughter Mary Korpiewski, who grew up in Kyiv, Ukraine with her mother.

The parents are already in a long-distance relationship - but the conflict in Ukraine has split them further apart.

Mary has been able to flee to the US with her dad but, so far, Iryna is unable to join them due to visa restrictions.

David, who has three children from a previous marriage, said: "When I heard about what was happening in Ukraine, I had no idea what would happen to my family.

"There are no words for the stress of not knowing if loved ones are ok or not.

"I am so lucky that we could reunite the family and everyone is ok, but soon we will split apart again.

"I have tried everything but there seems no way to get Iryna a visa - and I suspect it will get worse and worse.

"It's going to be really hard for Mary not to have her mother with her. But dad's hugs will have to do for now."

Mary, who speaks Russian, was born in 2011 after David and Iryna met through a mutual friend a year earlier.

The parents remained in a long-distance relationship but opted against getting married due to personal beliefs - with IT manager David visiting them in Ukraine twice a year.

When the Russian invasion began, Mary had been staying with her grandparents in Dnipro, Ukraine, while Iryna, who is an academic, had been at an economics conference in Vienna, Austria.

David was desperate to fly from his US home to Ukraine to rescue his daughter but was delayed by his expired passport.

He said: "I was rushing around desperate to get a passport, so I could get to them and know they were safe.

"I was getting more worried as there were bombs dropped just 50 miles from where Mary was staying.

"It was pure hell knowing that time was ticking - that the window of opportunity to get Mary out of Dnipro was closing."

Brave Iryna then completed a 28-hour rescue mission back into Ukraine by trains, to collect Mary and travel back to the Polish border.

Meanwhile David rushed around contacting senators before eventually being granted a passport.

He managed to get a flight from Boston to Poland, landing on Monday (March 7), the same day Iryna and Mary arrived - and the family were re-united.

David said: "It was a great relief when I went to the train station and found Mary and Iryna there.

"When Mary turned around and saw it was me, we just hugged really tightly.

"Then I hugged Iryna and we were hugging for a while. It was a great relief.

"A week of stress trying to get to them and then finally I get to them - it felt surreal that I was there with them."

The family got a hotel in Krakow and managed to secure a new US passport for Mary, who has dual nationality, as hers had been left behind when they fled bombs.

But they quickly found themselves hitting walls when getting a visa for Iryna to go back to the States with them.

They were told she would have to travel to Warsaw after getting an appointment to apply - which alone would take over 140 days - and even then they found it would still be unlikely to be granted.

As she had never been to the US, and she and David are not married, the family exhausted all options.

David said: "With Iryna living like a refugee here in Poland and unable to come back to the USA, the best option for Mary was to go back to the USA with me.

"Mary doesn't speak English yet and my Russian is pretty bad, so its going to be a challenge for us."

David and Mary will be flying back to Boston on Sunday (March 13) where she will go and live with her father and begin taking English classes so they can communicate better.

The best conclusion the family could come to, to keep Iryna safe in the absence of a visa, was to set her up with a flat in Poland.

There, she would at least be safe - although separated from her daughter.

David said: "That will be one of the biggest challenges - Mary and Iryna have always been together.

"Mary has never been to the USA - her whole life has been in Ukraine with her mother."

In preparation for David and Mary flying back to the States, they managed to secure Iryna an apartment in Warsaw through an expat group on Facebook.

The task brought to light the devastation they left behind - with Iryna and Mary unsure if their former home in Kyiv, with most of their possessions inside, is even still standing.

But the kind landlady desperate to help offered Iryna the apartment at a discounted rate - which David will cover the costs of until Iryna manages to find a new job in Poland.

David said: "It will be a huge transition for Iryna since she has to apply for a semi-permanent status in Poland.

"We didn't know how a lot of it would work, but we are slowly learning to help with Iryna's transition.

"I think it's a big relief that she will at least be staying in a normal apartment near to public transport.

"Hopefully she will be able to find a job there too - if she can get the authorizations to work, which we are still not sure of."

They will be split until they find a way to get Iryna into the US, or Mary is able to return to Poland or Ukraine.

With no idea what direction the war will go in, the split family's fate hangs in balance.

Reflecting on the journey as David prepares for their flight, he said: "It has been a lot of stress for Mary, who is naturally a very anxious child anyway.

"The war has really compounded that.

"But her worse stress will be separating her from Iryna for months coming up on Sunday.

"It's going to be really hard for Mary not to have her mother with her - I can only do my best for her as her dad.

"Mom's hugs are always the best - but dad's hugs will have to do for now.

"This is one of many heartbreaking stories about families being separated.

"I suspect it will get worse and more Ukrainians will be separated from their families in the USA if this continues."