A6
THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, MARcH 19, 2022
Photos by Lydia Ely/The Astorian
Matthew, 5, hides in his mother’s arms.
Refugees: Shekhovtsova’s home
is in Irpin, just outside Kyiv
continued from Page A1
When the war started and
Andriy Shekhovtsov was
forced to remain, the Millers
worked on logistics for get-
ting Shekhovtsova and their
sons to Oregon.
Their travels were expe-
dited because Shekhovtsova
already had a U.S. visa and
her sons have American
citizenship.
“We had to make sure she
got here as soon as possible,”
Heather Miller said.
Miller and her daughter,
Oxana, describe a deep emo-
tional connection to Ukraine,
where the family’s four oldest
children grew up and where
their four middle children
were adopted. The family fre-
quently returns for visits to
see old friends. Miller has left
open the possibility of bring-
ing in more refugees.
“We might be receiving
more refugees — if they can
get here,” she said. “But that’s
really a big ‘if.’”
Journey to the North
Coast
Shekhovtsova’s home is in
Irpin, just outside Ukraine’s
capital of Kyiv. When Russia
launched the invasion in late
February, the family had been
on vacation, visiting her par-
ents in western Ukraine.
Although far from the vio-
lence at the time, the family
made their way to the border
with Poland with the intent
of leaving. Martial law soon
came down, barring Andriy
Shekhovtsov from leaving the
country.
After saying goodbye to
her husband, Shekhovtsova
took their sons and fled to
Romania. Despite long lines
at the borders and nearly
missing their flight, the three
safely traveled to an airport in
Hungary.
“Everything
happened
basically within less than 48
hours,” Andriy Shekhovtsov
said over a video call. “When
everything happens so fast,
I don’t think you can com-
pletely understand what was
going on because I had a feel-
ing that I was just letting them
go for a little bit, maybe a cou-
ple days or a week.
“But then at the border, it
just really hit me — I don’t
know how long it’s going to
take, or even if I’ll be able
to see them again. At that
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
Police investigated a suspicious device on
Thursday outside of Home Depot in Warrenton.
Bomb hoax at
Home Depot
in Warrenton
By ERICK BENGEL
The Astorian
Matthew and Luka play with a toy car set.
moment it was hard.”
The separation has had
an impact on their children,
but Shekhovtsova remains
grateful they have not been
exposed to the violence back
home.
“They miss daddy, of
course, so they often ask if
he’s not in the army, if he’s not
at war, if he’s still alive. Every
day they check on this,” she
said. “But as kids, they enjoy
being here around new peo-
ple, new places, new tastes. I
think they are lucky because
they haven’t heard the booms
and other things that other
kids did.”
Since his wife and children
left, Andriy Shekhovtsov has
stayed in western Ukraine,
working remotely, volunteer-
ing and coordinating evacua-
tion efforts.
For the moment, he has not
been tasked with fighting in
the war. He is in the last wave
of civilians who have to join
the military. But the country’s
situation is rapidly changing.
The
uncertainty
has
weighed on Shekhovtsova.
“It’s been hard to adjust,
because all of my heart and
thoughts are in Ukraine,” she
said. “I would like to go home
so severely. I would like to go
now. I know I cannot do this
… It’s hard to sleep. It’s hard
to act normal in life.”
While she has daily con-
tact with her husband, Shek-
hovtsova has been unable
to keep in touch with many
friends and family.
“The worst part, for some
people I know, I still don’t
know if they are alive, because
I cannot reach them,” she said.
“Every day, I wait for a short
message, just a word: ‘alive.’”
Community support
Miller has been over-
whelmed by the community
support since Shekhovtsova
and her boys arrived.
Peter
and
Christina
Grauff have provided the
family with a place to live in
Astoria.
Friends of the Millers are
seeking to get Shekhovtsova
a car from a dealership in
Warrenton.
The Assistance League
of the Columbia Pacific, a
nonprofit that offers philan-
thropic programs through
schools, has helped get Luka
and Matthew situated. Both
are set to attend classes soon.
Others have helped with
expenses.
“I am very blessed with
the people who have us
because they opened their
house and they’re ready to
give us their car and every-
thing. I am in her socks right
now because she noticed
that I don’t have enough
clothing,”
Shekhovtsova
said, laughing while lifting
up her pant leg. “ ... It just
brings tears to my eyes how
people open their hearts to
help with whatever they
can.”
The family has set up a
GoFundMe account to help
refugee teachers from a pri-
vate school in Irpin who are
providing remote instruction
to Ukrainian students.
Miller describes a lot
of tears and a lack of sleep
in the days since the war
started. Although thousands
of miles away from the coun-
try she used to call home, she
is doing whatever she can to
make a positive impact.
“I can raise awareness,”
she said. “We can direct
funds to people that we per-
sonally know that we can
100% trust. We can help sup-
port them in that way.
“And pray. We just never
stopped doing that.”
A device fashioned to resemble
an explosive that was left at Home
Depot in Warrenton on Thursday
led to an evacuation of the retailer
and a visit from the bomb squad.
In the afternoon, an employee
found an object with exposed wires
and marked with political graf-
fiti in the store’s parking lot. The
employee brought it to the returns
desk inside the store.
Warrenton police were called
shortly before 5 p.m. An officer pho-
tographed the device and sent pic-
tures to Oregon State Police. The
Warrenton Fire Department was
also dispatched.
Emergency responders emp-
tied the building and parking lot
of employees and customers. The
city’s Public Works Department
closed off the area to the public.
Oregon State Police’s Salem-
based explosives unit arrived on
scene and dismantled what turned
out to be a hoax device.
“It truly did look like (a bomb),”
Sgt. Jim Pierce, of the Warrenton
Police Department, said. “However,
it was nonexplosive when they took
it apart.”
The area was reopened shortly
before 8:30 p.m.
The incident is under investiga-
tion. No suspects have been identified.
Anyone who was at Home Depot
between roughly 4 and 5 p.m. on
Thursday and saw anything suspi-
cious in the parking lot, or who has
any information, is asked to con-
tact Pierce at jpierce@ci.warrenton.
or.us, the police department’s gen-
eral number — 503-861-2235 — or
through Warrenton’s dispatch center
at 503-325-8661.
Gray whales: ‘Everybody’s connected to the ocean’
continued from Page A1
Watch Center in Depoe Bay
has been closed throughout
the COVID-19 pandemic. It
will reopen to visitors in late
spring.
As people head to over-
looks and viewpoints to
watch gray whales pass by,
Torres hopes they keep sev-
eral things in mind.
“Everybody’s connected
to the ocean with the day-
to-day actions we do,” she
said.
One of the main way
whales can be impacted is
through people’s shopping
choices.
“When we buy things
that come from China, they
all come on a boat and that
boat makes a lot of noise
and has ship strikes to the
whales,” Torres said. “We
are more connected than we
realize.”
Last year, Torres and
her team, GEMM Lab,
launched the website Indi-
viduWhale.com, identifying
individual gray whales and
providing detailed profiles
of each whale.
This story is part of a
collaboration between The
Astorian and coast com-
munity Radio.
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