War-weary would describe how many are feeling, particularly those in Hawai'i with ties to Ukraine. As tensions rise amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, many refugees living in Hawai'i have been saddened by the strained relationship between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump.
According to the Ukrainian Cultural Center Pacific, Hawai'i is home to a community of over 2,000 Ukrainians, both long-time residents and refugees.
Hawai'i and Ukraine share a long history that dates back to the plantation era, when hundreds of Ukrainians first came to work in the sugar fields.
To learn more about the connection between these two communities and hear how refugees in Hawai'i are faring amid the ongoing warfare, HPR spoke with the Ukrainian Cultural Center Pacific's President Lyuba Naiditch and board member Ivanna Klym.
Interview Highlights
On the stories of refugees living in Hawaiʻi
LYUBA NAIDITCH: We have many stories. Every person who came during the war has their own tragic story, and then people like us who still have families, friends in Ukraine, we have also stories. … There's a lot of resilience, but people are also tired, and people are sad. They're losing their loved ones. Some people just left, you know, very fast. They grabbed whatever was necessity and whatever could fit in one suitcase, and they went places where they were welcomed, some of those Ukrainian people made it here. How did they get here? Their story is simple: their friend told them to come. I'll help you. I'll help you to settle down.
On the Ukrainian Cultural Center Pacific
IVANNA KLYM: Our organization has very specific goal: to introduce Ukrainian culture to Hawaiian people, to preserve Ukrainian traditions, Ukrainian language, and of course, unite everybody. … We have our own traditions, and to always learn something new, something positive, it's nice for everybody. Like we're learning here, what's tradition for Hawaiʻi, right? For me, it's new, Hawaiʻi. It's new and everything. And our organization actually wants to unite all those people who want to learn more, and we want to tell them more about Ukraine.
On the U.S. import of Russian diesel
NAIDITCH: As a Ukrainian, I feel betrayed because there's still a lot of family, friends, neighbors, people that just want to live their simple lives, raise their kids in the free country, and Russia is taking that. And as an American, I feel betrayed because all of what Ukraine is fighting for now, it's all of the morals of what the United States stands for: democracy, freedom, human rights, and frankly, what the current administration is doing now goes against all these values. … We are here to ask whoever gets a chance to listen to us to first of all please continue supporting Ukraine.
More information about the Ukrainian Cultural Center Pacific can be found here.
This story aired on The Conversation on Oct. 23, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
