GULFPORT, Fla (WFLA) – Eric Cudar is back at his business, Gulfport Garage, after a trip to the Ukraine-Poland border.
“There were a lot of people getting off those busses who had no one and that’s heart-wrenching,” he said, “especially looking at the kids. I cried more in ten days than I have in ten years.”
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Cudar and his fiancé Ulyana Fylypovych traveled to Eastern Europe to assist her sister and 10 and 12-year-old nieces feeling war-torn Ukraine. The father stayed behind to fight for his country.
“They had to say goodbye perhaps for the last time forever to their father and I don’t think it’s totally set in with the kids, but obviously with mom she’s well aware she may never see her husband again,” Cudar told News Channel 8.
The mother and two daughters are among more than three million Ukrainians who have left their country since the start of Russia’s invasion in February.
“Right now we’ve got them at an Airbnb in Warsaw Poland,” Cudar said, “so they’re a lot better off than a lot of the people crossing the border.”
But he added the challenge now is finding a way for them to reunite with family in Tampa Bay.
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“It would do wonders for those kids psyche,” he said, “if they could be around grandma and grandpa.”
Cudar said advice from the U.S. embassy in Warsaw backfired.
“We found out from watching a Ukrainian attorney out of New York that anybody who applied for a visitor’s visa is being turned down automatically because they don’t have a country to return to,” Cudar said.
As the war rages on, this Pinellas County business owner has a message for Congress.
“Find a path for some of these people to come to the U.S.,” he said. “I have family that we can support. They’re not gonna be a burden on the U.S. government or taxpayers. They just want a chance.”
For now, Cudar said his wedding is on hold as they are focused on helping his fiance’s family get to Florida.
He tells News Channel 8 he has been in communication with Rep. Charlie Crist’s (D-St. Petersburg) office.
A spokesperson for the congressman said his office is working on about a dozen similar cases involving Ukrainian refugees who are related to families in Tampa Bay.