As I’ve noted in a couple other places in the past, there really haven’t been any significant changes to the status of family and friends. I doubt there will be much changing until the war is largely over, especially in the places we’ve been watching the most — Mariupol, Volnovakha, Kherson and other areas with people we know or have visited. But there’s been little changes here and there, so I might as well get everyone caught up.

Katya 2 & Vanya – Well, unfortunately, these two aren’t really in our orbit anymore, owing to the fact that Katya and Zhenya have broken up. They’d actually broken up a little while before the invasion in February, but seemed to have a reconciliation just before everything started. However, it seems the changes brought about by the war just wasn’t conducive to keeping them together; I’m sure the distances and stresses of war played a big role. Although we had been helping Katya & Vanya with their application (and approval) for the Canadian Ukrainian refugee program, it seems Katya really came to like living in Vienna (or at least, hasn’t felt like leaving Europe). So it appears that she won’t be going to Canada (I think her approval may have expired at this point). Since one of Viktoria’s oldest friends lives in Vienna (and had been helping Katya and others when they arrived in the city), we might still get news about how they’re doing, but I think this might be the last update for a while.

Baba Katya & Rodion – Still in the same place outside Mariupol, and while things are difficult, they seem to be getting by. Katya works weekends in the local bazaar/flea market and gets a bit of money that way. Rodion is in school, which had been virtual for the first month or so, but I guess enough repairs have been done to the local school for kids to attend in-person. And that’s about it, which is perhaps the best that can be hoped for. We did find out that we can transfer money to Katya, so we can help them out for a while longer. (Who knows what the winter months will bring?)

Artem & Katya 1 – We haven’t really heard anything more from this branch of the family. Artem had a birthday recently and we were able to send him some money (via Baba Katya). When she went over to their house to deliver it, he wasn’t in. But according to his mother, he and they are doing OK. School, of course. Hopefully he’s keeping his head down; he’s 14 now and tall-ish, which might make him look older. With the war going badly for Russia and mobilization being forced on the occupied area (and basically everywhere in Russia that isn’t Moscow or St. Petersburg), it’s not hard to imagine Artem getting press-ganged. Rather than end of that sour note, I will mention that now that Baba Katya and Katya 1 have connected (really, they aren’t that far from one another), hopefully we’ll get better and more regular information about how things are going.

That’s all for the moment. Events in Ukraine have been changing at a furious pace — generally in Ukraine’s favor — and I’ve probably collected enough snippets for another “catching up” post, which I’ll try to get to soon.