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Although Kseniia Kalinina was very lucky after fleeing Ukraine to Switzerland, her life is not all rosy. The insecurity bothers her a lot.
Kseniia Kalinina is very lucky: her husband and mother-in-law have meanwhile come to Switzerland. She and her husband have found jobs, both working as statistical programmers in the pharmaceutical industry.
Legend:
Kseniia Kalinia is afraid to make new friends. If she then had to go back, it would be difficult for her.
SRF/Noëmi Ackermann
And yet, when asked how she is doing, she says: “On the one hand, good: we have a job, my children go to school here in Switzerland and, above all, we are safe in Switzerland. But we have a lot of uncertainty.”
Switzerland can say at any time, you can now go back. But where is back for us?
Kseniia Kalinina and her family are from Charkiv, in eastern Ukraine. In March she first came to Switzerland alone with the children, later her husband and mother-in-law. You live in a 4.5 room apartment in Switzerland.
However, Kseniia Kalinina does not dare to settle in completely: “Switzerland can say at any time that you can now go back. But where is back for us?» She can’t imagine going to Charkiv: the city is too broken, the area too mined.
Too many rules to follow
That’s why she doesn’t really dare to make friends here: “I’m afraid of looking for new friends. If I have to leave after a few years, it would be very difficult for me.”
Nevertheless, Kseniia Kalinina tries to integrate as well as possible in Switzerland: “In Switzerland there are so many rules. But we are guests here, we should know the rules and follow them.” She brings the example of waste separation. “People explain to us how to separate and dispose of cardboard and plastic. Luckily they are so nice », says Kseniia Kalinina at the kitchen table.
Putin did not invent the Russian language.
But some things are still the same as in Charkiv. The family language is still Russian. She keeps thinking about whether she should switch to Ukrainian.
But Russian is her mother tongue and: “Putin did not invent the Russian language. I like this language because of its famous authors like Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. And after all, Putin also speaks German.” And thanks to the Russian, at least something will be as it was before February 24, when so much else has changed in the life of Kseniia Kalinina and her family.