A Maltese man and his family have been uprooted from Ukraine. Kurt Rossi is now raising funds to send food and military gear to the country and help women and children arriving here. Fiona Galea Debono reports...

When Kurt Rossi left his home in Ukraine for Dubai with a mere 10kg of luggage in mid-February, he never thought his work trip would mark his sudden uprooting.

But the minute he landed, he was inundated with messages that civilians should get out of Ukraine. That was it, he realised, immediately arranging for his family to join him.

“We had to persuade my father-in-law to leave. He is an ex-colonel of the Soviet army and could not comprehend how the Russians were invading Ukraine as they were once one. He wanted to stay behind to protect all that he holds dear.”

The war had not yet broken out but the alarm had sounded to leave the country where Rossi had been living for four years.

It effectively meant leaving behind his apartment in central Kyiv, his agricultural business, his employees, friends on the frontline and even his pets.

“We are displaced people,” said Rossi, who has been living away from Malta for 25 years, 14 of which were spent in Russia, having moved between the two “like going from Malta to Sicily”. It means he knows both sides of the conflict.

“Never in my life would I have imagined experiencing a war,” said the 45-year-old Maltese.

His family is now settled in an apartment of his here that happened to be freed up. His in-laws were also offered a temporary roof over their heads by a friend as “overwhelming generosity” immediately kicked in when he sought a place to rent.

And the Rossis themselves have opened up their home to a family of four, who were enjoying a holiday in the US when their world suddenly turned upside down and they could not go back to their life in Ukraine.

Sirens and blasts over the phone

Although they spend time monitoring the situation, tensions can run high, tears flow and the occasional emotional meltdown is expected, the two families have remotely rallied around their friends back home, admitting to an element of “guilt and discomfort” that they are safe from the bombs.

“We experience the sirens and the blasts through our phones throughout the day,” they said.

From here, they are raising funds for bullet-proof jackets, helmets and other military gear for the civilians who took up arms to defend their country, having direct contact with soldiers on the frontline.

Thanks to the nature of their jobs in Ukraine, both men are also doing their utmost to provide food supplies.

Rossi thanked the local non-resident ambassador and the consul for Ukraine in Malta for their efforts to get humanitarian aid out to the conflict. However, he also wants to channel help and generosity to the Ukrainians arriving here.

Never in my life would I have imagined experiencing a war

With his knowledge of the language and culture and his many contacts, he is well placed to assist the mostly women and child refugees and has a plan to help them integrate.

Following a story in Times of Malta about a displaced mother and daughter, who ended up in a paying COVID-19 quarantine hotel, people who wanted to support them and others arriving in Malta found no local fund.

Rossi has now joined forces with the Malta Boxing Federation with a clear three-pronged plan for refugees: to provide free accommodation to the families, schooling for the children and food vouchers from supermarkets for the coming months.

“I needed a set-up to raise funds and the federation’s president, Patrick Shaerrer is on the same page,” he said.

The wheels are already in motion to achieve his goal of “supporting displaced families with whatever they need that would give them dignity, some form of normality and a new life”.

Rossi wants to fund accommodation for the refugees for a period of three months and most estate agents have already agreed to waive commissions.

School option

Eight Ukrainian children have been placed in St Michael School to complete the scholastic year and Rossi heaped praise on the principal for her prompt acceptance of the idea, hoping others would follow suit with free tuition.

“The children need to be at school with others, while the adults can focus on their own future and have the time to look for jobs,” he said, adding that Maltese parents have been so supportive, offering uniforms and other needs.

He also intends to approach Transport Malta to subsidise bus fares, with his job being to administer and allocate the funds to who is really in need.

The first Russian bomb was dropped on Ukraine around 10 days after they fled the country and they were in disbelief at the time.

Now, we talk about the war freely as though it is normal

“We kept things quiet for my six-year-old, Frankie, but we were glued to our civilian news feeds that give us a clear picture of what is happening on the ground, and he asked lots of questions about the bombs falling at home, asking: ‘What about my school?’

“It is upsetting… I have had to tell my toddler some white lies about his pets, which he thinks are safe in an animal hospital.

“Now, we talk about the war freely as though it is normal.”

Rossi has met with mothers and children in Malta with different experiences of the war,  some having been in underground shelters for two weeks, others whose husbands are fighting.

“If they know their families are being taken care of, it will help their morale,” he said.

“I returned to my second home but many Ukrainians arriving here do not have the same benefits. Most come here because they have a relative but these could be distant, just a familiar face and not necessarily in a position to support or host them.

“While it is good that people are opening up their homes, this is not sustainable in the longer term,” Rossi said about the host families welcoming strangers.

Ugly feeling

Rossi acknowledges: “My life was turned upside down and I have time on my hands. Instead of sitting around, I recognise I am in a good position to offer support, both morally and financially. We can be the bridge…

“We do not know when this will end but I am living day by day. I am driving with dim lights – not headlamps – because I only want to look at the short term,” he said about his state of mind.

“I am not thinking of when we can go back and what we will find when we do,” he said, aware that, even if there were to be a ceasefire today, it would be months before they could return to a country that was once booming.

Ukraine will be victorious. We have to win!

“It is a very ugly and uncomfortable feeling, which applies to everyone, let alone those stuck there.”

But what is for sure, is that “Ukraine will be victorious. We have to win!”

The resilience, courage and determination of the Ukrainians that has emerged from TV screens over the last month is evident in the St Julian’s apartment.

The families are not even contemplating defeat, insisting the war-torn country will be rebuilt and grow stronger.

They asked to end their story with the words: Slava Ukraina.

Donations can be made to the Malta Boxing Federation to HSBC Bank account number 002-119196-050; IBAN number MT89MMEB44026000000002119196050; BIC-SWIFT Code MMEBMTMT

Kurt Rossi can be contacted on 9947 8717.