Born and raised in Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine, 36-year-old Elvira Batii feared so much for her family's safety that she eventually left her business, relatives, and friends behind and fled to Denmark. It has now been almost 2 years and we bring her story here.
The city of Kharkiv, located just 25 km from the Russian border, is Ukraine's second largest city with almost 1.5 million. citizens. Kharkiv is the main city of Kharkiv oblast (region) and one of the regions that is part of the active war zone. Elvira was born and raised in Kharkiv with her mother, father and two sisters. She lost her mother many years ago and her father still lives in Kharkiv. Both of her sisters have also fled – one with her family to Germany and the other, who fled to Finland with her son, is back in Kharkiv.
Elvira, her husband, and son lived in an apartment and as a self-employed person she ran her own business selling door locks, door handles and key service. Today the shop is locked up and Elvira, who still owns the shop, has continuously paid all costs in this connection since the escape.
Football EC in 2012 was to prove to be of great importance
During the football EC in 2012 where, among other things, Ukraine hosted the final rounds, Elvira met a Danish family. She then kept in touch with the family, which was to prove to be of great importance. Relatively shortly after the start of the war, Elvira received an email from her family, which encouraged her to flee to Denmark. The invitation also included an offer to stay with the family. Elvira thought long and hard about the offer and as the war progressed, she reached a point where she feared so much for her son's safety that she agreed with her husband that she should leave with her son.
Quick to work
Elvira's Danish contact and now host family should once again prove to be of great help in connection with the job search. After contacting an acquaintance at Aarhus Municipality, two days later Elvira received an invitation to a job interview with Søren Kaare Nielsen, warehouse manager at Triscan. The conversation went so well that in March 2022 Elvira was offered a job in logistics. After receiving her temporary residence and work permit, Elvira was able to start at Triscan the following month.
Reunited with her husband
Half a year after Elvira and her then 12-year-old son came to Denmark, the man followed - and they have since moved into their own apartment. Elvira's husband, who for health reasons is not declared fit to be a soldier, had until his arrival in Denmark partly driven evacuated Ukrainians out of the war-torn areas and partly driven with emergency supplies. Also, one of Elvira's friends from Kharkiv has since come to Denmark with her family. Elvira's husband has also started working as a driver for the Salling Group Bakery in Brabrand.
Life in Denmark
Elvira is very happy to have come to Denmark. "I am so happy to work here at Triscan and my life in Denmark. I am treated so well and have only nice colleagues. I simply love the culture that prevails here at Triscan”. Elvira's now 13-year-old son attends a special integration class with other Ukrainian children and is doing so well that he will probably be ready to start a regular Danish primary school class in 3 months' time. "In Denmark, all citizens are taken care of - and I really like that."
Wishes for the future
What the future holds can be difficult to predict, but if it is up to Elvira and her family, they would really like to stay in Denmark. "We want to stay in Denmark, and I really want to continue working here at Triscan, but now we have to see if we can get our residence and work permit extended".
Elvira is not the only Ukrainian employee we have employed in logistics. So is Anzhelika Nazarovai and Sofiia Taranenko is employed in our facility services, who helps with daily cleaning and assists in the canteen.