“The last thing that would have occurred to me is to ask her if she is Ukrainian. She assisted her, as she would have done with any person in her situation». Elena Shuvalova is a Russian translator who has lived in Tenerife for more than 34 years. On Monday, she came across a tweet asking for help translating for a struggling Ukrainian family on vacation in the south of the island, who speak neither Spanish nor English. Lilia Zolotar was hospitalized in the emergency room of a medical center in Adeje and the languages spoken by her, her partner Alex Kondratiuk and their son Matvii are Ukrainian and Russian.
Despite the armed conflict between the two countries after the invasion initiated by Russia on February 24, Shuvalova did not think for a second to help the Ukrainian for free. The Russian translator is against the war. But above all, she is in favor of solidarity between people, regardless of their nationality. “No one expected this to happen, neither Ukrainians nor Russians,” says Elena.
few hours before the war
Lilia came on vacation to Caleta de Adeje, in the south of Tenerife, more than 5,500 kilometers from her country, with her partner and her young son a few hours before the invasion broke out. After her first days on the island, which were going to be a break and turned into a martyrdom, the Ukrainian woman began to feel bad. She had a fever and severe pain, which added to her great concern for her family and friends in Ukraine. Everything had taken a sudden turn.
Lilia Zolotar went to a medical center in Adeje. She was referred to the Hospital Universitario Nuestra Señora de Candelaria. She suffered from a kidney infection. Hospital workers ran into a problem: the language barrier. Alex defends himself with English but in the Residence there was no one who understood him. Twitter was the way to find a translator with which to communicate with health personnel. Then came the Russian translator Elena Shuvalova, who offered without hesitation.
Lilia and her partner Alex are among the 170 Ukrainian tourists who have been trapped on the island
Lilia, Alex and Matvii are among the nearly 170 Ukrainian tourists who have been trapped in Tenerife after leaving just before the Russian invasion and not being able –or not wanting– to return to their country now, where they would risk their lives. The family comes from Khmelnitski, a city in western Ukraine with 274,000 inhabitants under fire from the Russians. You also have relatives in Kharkiv, one of the Ukrainian citizens hardest hit by the attacks. They have accommodation on the Island until next Friday, the day they planned to return. But Alex does not want his partner and son to return to Ukraine. «We are thinking of staying in Tenerife and going to look for work. We do not want to live from the story, but to work on what comes out. My partner is a truck driver or I have nursing training. I don’t know what will become of our lives or that of our relatives, “says Lilia.
They have already contacted members of the Ukrainian community residing in Tenerife – more than 2,000 – and even some Russians opposed to the war, such as Elena herself, who have set up a chain of favors to help them and the rest of the Ukrainians who They came to spend a vacation and now they don’t know if they will be able to return to their country. Suddenly they stopped being tourists to become refugees. Stories like that of Lilia and Alex are repeated in this group.
The Ukrainian community in Tenerife has already started meeting with the local authorities, such as the delegate of the central government in the Canary Islands, Anselmo Pestana, the president of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Pedro Martín, or the mayor of Arona, José Julián Mena. The objective is to find places to accommodate these people when they finalize their reservations in hotels, apartments or vacation homes. Pestana, Martín and Mena have reached out to them. With the help of social organizations, such as the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid or the Red Cross, an operation is being set up to serve them in the best possible conditions.
In addition to helping them with the translation, Elena Shuvalova noticed that Lilia’s son was unnerved by his mother’s admission to hospital and worry about the war. Elena then decided to pick up 6-year-old Matvii to clear her head. She took him for a ride with her children, Daniel and Alejandro, born in Tenerife and also minors. They went to a park in the capital of Tenerife where the children had fun. “They really want to meet again,” explains Elena. “They do not know very well what is happening in Ukraine. They are just kids who want to play.”
Two sons are still in Ukraine
Lilia left behind two children from a previous marriage, a 19-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl, in a Ukraine besieged by Russian troops. They had to study, but now they can’t. The woman began to look for solutions so that the two children could leave Ukraine as soon as possible. Although she offered them to go to Poland with some friends, they decided to stay with their grandparents. She is very grateful to Elena and her family for all that they are supporting her. Even Elena has put her in contact with another Russian resident in Tenerife who has offered these dozens of Ukrainian tourists trapped on the island to give them decent accommodation.
“The last thing that would have occurred to me is to ask her if she is Ukrainian,” says Elena Shuvalova
The Russian translator is clear: «I am totally against this war. In wars, no one benefits. Everything is horror and suffering. The conflict is affecting the whole world, not just Russia and Ukraine. How could we not support people who are suffering so much! ”, Stresses Elena Shuvalova, who lives in Santa Cruz. As the Russian translator puts it, “the people at the top have the problems. But those below always pay. The facts corroborate Elena’s claims. Humanitarian organizations estimate that there are already more than a million displaced by the war and more than 2,000 Ukrainian civilians have died in Russian attacks.
The support of the Russians
Elena is not the only Russian helping Ukrainians in Tenerife. As he says, other Russians and Ukrainians help each other despite the war in these difficult times. Solitude is above barbarism. “Many people in Russia are against all this and are the first to help the population of the neighboring country.” For Elena, “citizens do not have any conflict, the problem is with those who rule.”
Lilia was discharged on Thursday afternoon. There was Elena to accompany her. She is still sore but she is recovering satisfactorily. Back at the apartment in Caleta de Adeje, Lilia and her family have decided to stay in Tenerife, despite not being prepared materially or psychologically. Alex doubts whether to return to join the resistance or help his country in whatever way he can, but at the same time he doesn’t want to leave his wife and son alone. What this Ukrainian truck driver is clear about is that he does not want Lilia and Matvii to return to Ukraine while he remains under military siege by the Russian Army. Quite a dilemma for a Ukrainian family that came to Tenerife to enjoy the good weather and has come across a nightmare. Lilia does not know if she will be able to, but Alex and Matvii want to join the concentration today, organized by the Ukrainian community on the island, which will be held this afternoon in the Plaza de España in Santa Cruz de Tenerife against the war
