Since 9 March, Dasha Petrykova has been translating and recording Radio Ara’s news for her fellow Ukrainians. She herself arrived in the Grand Duchy only two weeks ago with her mother and grandmother. The family now lives with Petrykova’s brother.
Petrykova explains that she knows a lot about Luxembourg because she has visited the country multiple times already. For this reason, Petrykova states that it makes her “happy” to help other Ukrainians orient themselves. For some, it is their first time in this part of Europe and they know nothing about the country and do not know what to do, she explains.
The news briefings are about three minutes long and are broadcast three times per day. According to Radio Ara Coordinator Lisa McLean, making national news accessible to the Ukrainian community was “a given” for the multicultural radio station.
“We have always reacted to changes in society,” McLean explains, pointing out that “in the beginning, English used to be a minority language too”. Six to seven years ago, Radio Ara added a show in Arabic to their programming and today, the radio station has “several different shows in several different languages”.
Starting next week, Irina Skrypak will host a one-hour show in Ukrainian every Monday. During her show, Skrypak intends to focus on Ukrainian culture, poems, and music as well as providing information on schools, the University of Luxembourg, and opportunities for further education.
The 43-year-old journalist travelled from Kyiv to Luxembourg on 5 March. Her parents live 500 kilometres to the east of the Ukrainian capital – too far away to join their daughter on her way to Luxembourg. Skrypak and her cat were taken in by a host family. She stresses that it is very important to her to continue exercising her profession – even if it is in the form of volunteer work – and continue talking about her country and culture.
Meanwhile, Dasha Petrykova intends to return to her home town of Dnipro in Ukraine in early April. According to Petrykova, the town is “doing relatively well” and she has temporarily given her flat to people seeking shelter in the town.
Petrykova states that while she wants to help people in Luxembourg too, it “is not the same as being in your home country and helping your people survive”.
The full report from RTL Télé (in Luxembourgish):
