The war ruined two of her successful careers in Ukraine: how a pastry chef and hockey player from Irpin tries to get back on her feet in New York

23-year-old hockey player Marina Kobchuk comes from Irpen, a suburb of Kyiv, which the whole world learned about because of the war. For a month and a half she has been alone in New York, her mother and brother have remained in Ukraine, building a future in a distant foreign country, but mentally still at home. About how her new life has developed, the publication told "Voice of America".

“Air defense began to work. People, the military, all began to scatter, and the realization came that now something could fall next to us. The realization did not come that it was scary, that this was happening to us, ”says Kobchuk.

At home, Marina managed to become famous. A participant in the Ukrainian Hockey Championship and a pastry chef, the star of the culinary show MasterChef. She saw her fate somewhere between cooking and sports, but on February 24, all plans were cut short. A 6-year-old child who was expecting a birthday cake from her did not blow out the candles that evening and did not make a wish.

“When I had to give that cake, when there were already incredible traffic jams on the roads, I called the girl who was supposed to pick up the cake and explained the situation - I won’t be able to deliver the cake to you on the 25th, because on the 24th sooner I'll just leave in the evening. She says yes, no problem. And when I drove up to her house, she said that they were already in the bomb shelter and they didn’t need anything anymore, ”recalls the hockey player.

Marina and her family miraculously survived. For 3 months they hid in a dacha 70 km from Kyiv. With the onset of darkness, it was forbidden to turn on the light - shells could hit the houses.

And in April, after learning about the American refugee assistance program called Uniting for Ukraine, the girl took a chance and wrote a post: “Hello. My name is Marina from Irpin, Ukraine. For many years I have been playing hockey, I want to continue playing and developing. I want to find a sponsor for the Uniting for Ukraine program.”

No one believed, but here is the response - a New York organization called New York Communities for Ukraine Refugees really takes her story under its wing. It looks like the answer of a solid institution, but in reality they are just ordinary people on the other side of the globe.

“I am not an immigration lawyer, I am not a doctor, I did not know what to do when the war started, but I wanted to do something. For us it was a very easy decision. Marina is a strong person, I see it. We talk very little about the war. She, of course, is present in our thoughts, but we do not discuss this, ”says Mark Gurevich, a lawyer.

On the subject: In New Jersey there is a free store for refugees from Ukraine: there you can take clothes, toys and hygiene items

Someone settled, someone helped with the documents, and Jo Ann Rodioli also asked in absentia to call Marina her Brooklyn grandmother. She helped the girl with the flight and bought her a hockey stick. Former librarian, Jo Ann, a native New Yorker with no connection to Ukraine, explains why it was so important for her to help, to participate.

“It was Marina who became an opportunity for me, not me for her, it really is. I watched the news about Ukraine on my computer, I don't watch TV, it's just terrible now. And then I saw the news about Ukraine on the Internet, and it was so shocking, devastating. This news left me, like many others, feeling helpless about what I could do for them while I was here. But I was lucky in my own way, I was raised by parents who said, “Joe, there is always something you can do. It doesn't matter how small the deed is. The opportunity is always there,” says Ann.

The story of Marina Kobchuk is that a person needs a person. The puzzle of her fate was formed from dozens of small deeds that strangers did in New York, far from Kyiv. They were driven by only one desire - to oppose at least something to evil, destruction and death.

Volunteer Zhenya is fond of hockey. He helped Marina find a skating rink and organize training, games, and lessons.

"Why not? I have a small amount of free time. If this wasted time will radically improve someone’s life, then you shouldn’t even think about it, you need to do it, ”says Evgeny Platonov.

Recently, Marina went to the city of Buffalo to audition for a local team. She says that girls in hockey are not so rare here, and she often trains with guys on a level. She is also thinking of starting a small local business — baking cakes and pastries to order.

Well, a group of volunteers continues to look for people in their team who are ready to help, to repair small destinies that were broken by a big war.