With Temporary Protected Status for refugees from Ukraine set to expire on Oct. 19, those who have settled in St. Louis and across the United States are facing uncertainty.

If legislation extending the program — which began in April 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and has been extended twice since — does not pass, documents and driver’s licenses will expire; this means every refugee with that current status will not be able to work or drive, forcing them to possibly return to Ukraine. In total, approximately 100,000 individuals gained admission to the U.S. under this program. It is estimated that approximately 1,500 to 2,000 Ukrainians have settled in Missouri.

“Ukrainians are simply asking for a chance to continue to do what so many earlier generations of our immigrants have done. And I think, universally, there’s recognition that they have made tremendous contributions,” Deacon Eugene Logusch of St. Mary’s Assumption Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church said. “Hopefully we can see our political system functioning for the good of the country instead of simply engaging in conflict and partisanship.”

Logusch, the son of immigrants, shared with The Call that he has been with the Concord church since the 1990s, “serving in this church from 2001 until this past summer, when we had the joy of having a full-time resident priest.” This priest, Fr. Oleh Zatvarsky, is a Ukrainian refugee who, like so many others in the community, faces the Oct. 19 deadline.

“We just want to be part of the beautiful St. Louis community,” Zatvarsky said. “We just ask you to give us help to just extend our status over here and live safer lives. We just want to work over here, live our lives and not be only Ukrainians — we want to be part of this community. Our church is not exclusively Ukrainian community. We are Ukrainians with big heart and we open our door for everybody.”

Zatvarsky pointed to the city’s annual Festival of Nations held in Tower Grove Park each August. He shared that when he and his family moved to St. Louis this summer, the festival was taking place, creating a welcoming atmosphere for the newcomers to town.

“We had a beautiful festival of the nations in the park. I was visiting that festival with my family, and it was really amazing to watch how many, many nations just live in a small, compact city. It was just beautiful to watch all the traditions; everybody dances, sings songs. It was amazing, and we just want to be part of the same community,” Zatvarsky said.

At a press conference held at St. Mary’s Assumption on Oct. 8, St. Louis County Executive Sam Page, former KMOX anchor Charlie Brennan and Logusch gathered a group of Ukrainian refugees facing the looming deadline to share their stories and explain the situation.

“People don’t realize a lot of the small details, like these individuals pay thousands of dollars for their visas and for their work permits. They pay thousands of dollars so that they have permission to work in this country. And that could all go down the drain,” Brennan said.

One of these individuals impacted by the expiration of Temporary Protected Status is Yuliia Korol, a veterinarian who works as a vet tech at Southwick Veterinary Hospital on Lemay Ferry Road. She came to St. Louis in 2022, choosing the city as she has a cousin who lives here. Before making the journey to the U.S., Korol worked as a doctor in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.

“One day, I woke up because missiles hit my town — that’s what woke me up. A few days later, we made a hard decision to leave the capital and go to the safer part of Ukraine, which is the west part of Ukraine. There we started facing shortages of electricity and big humanitarian problems. Nine months after the war started, I made a very hard decision to leave my family and move to U.S. I came here by myself,” Korol said.

She said that if she were forced to return to her home country at this time, it would be “very unsafe,” sharing that bridges she used every day to commute to and from work have been destroyed by drones.

“It’s very dangerous. I would say probably every third apartment building in the capital is damaged — by drones, by missiles. Also, the area where I lived before, neighborhood buildings are damaged,” Korol said. “I’ve been told that … this program is meant to be temporary. The reason why we are here is not solved. I understand that this program is meant to be temporary, but the reason is not solved.”

Another Ukrainian refugee, Dmytro Hrynchyshyn, shared that he and his wife, Taisiia, also face potential deportation. The family owns and operates a European-style bakery, Patisserie Svoi, in the city’s Central West End neighborhood, which primarily employs Ukrainians with the same status.

“We try to integrate into this part of America … We are Ukrainian; we follow the rules and everything. We try to build a nice future over here. Just give us a chance,” Hrynchyshyn said. “All (this) time, you give to us the shelter. Right now, the war is still going, and I have a question: Why is the program closed? Nobody is saying this war is finished, correct? It’s still going, and it’s made worse and more worse.”

“There is no safe place in Ukraine,” Mykhalio Naichuk, a refugee from western Ukraine, added.

Hoping for legislative action, Page sent a letter to members of Missouri’s Congressional Delegation asking for their support for prompt passage of bipartisan legislation extending Temporary Protected Status for Ukrainians who have sought refuge in the U.S. Over 40 “like-minded St. Louisans who are notable and who believe that these individuals should stay,” per Brennan, have signed on in support of this legislation. As of The Call’s press time, no action has been taken.