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Ukrainians in Northern Michigan experience an anniversary of pain and mourning

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For Diana Grebennykova, a Ukrainian who lives in Traverse City near the border with Leelanau County, February 24—the one-year anniversary of Russia’s brutal invasion of her home country—is an “anniversary of pain and mourning.” Diana and her husband Viktor Grebennykov, the former coach of the Lake Leelanau Rowing Club, have lived in Northern Michigan since 2019. They are raising two young children here. Diana’s mother, Liubov, moved in with them in April after she left Kyiv on the morning of the invasion.

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“Ukrainian people are protecting the world with our blood”

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Lake Leelanau Rowing Club coach Viktor Grebennykov and his wife Diana—both natives of Ukraine who currently live in Traverse City— aren’t hiding news of the war in their homeland from their young children. But they moderate which videos and photos Ellis, 4, and Tim, 2, see on the television and computer screens, even as the Russian military continues its daily shelling of Ukrainian cities. Nevertheless, the children comprehend the human costs of this hellish war, and how it endangers family members whom they have never met but know from frequent video chats.

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