MINNEAPOLIS— Two Ukrainian refugees pedal purposefully. Friends, Ganna Bubnova and Oleksander Koroliuk, cycle across the US to raise money for the troops fighting the war in their home country.
“I had a dream to learn more about the United States – the culture, the real America,” Bubnova said.
That dream started 64 days ago when the wheels dipped into the Pacific Ocean in Los Angeles. Since then, the duo has cycled 2,000 miles through mountains, snow and farmland to arrive in Minnesota.
“[Minnesota] is green and it’s a lot of fun. I like the amount of rivers you have,” Bubnova said.
With only their bicycles and a few packs, they travel from coast to coast with the mission to raise money for the Ukrainian army and buy a new ambulance vehicle for the children’s hospital in Kharkiv.
The two are Ukrainian refugees who still have family in war-torn areas.
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“[Our family and friends] They see the bombings from their windows and many Americans don’t know about it and many people don’t know that the war is still going on,” Bubnova said.
This bike ride has opened their eyes to more generosity than they expected, with strangers helping them along the way.
“They feed us, they put us in a place to sleep, they help with our bikes, they take our bikes for maintenance,” Bubnova said.
They are also surprised at the number of Ukrainian communities across the country, especially in Minnesota.
The Ukrainian American Community Center in Northeast Minneapolis stores their bikes during their stop. Minneapolis’s famous Ukrainian restaurant, Kramarczuk’s, gave them cycling jerseys for their trip, signed by the staff.
“This journey about people, this journey about kindness, this journey about love,” Koroliuk said.
Their goal is to come to New York City for the 4th of July. To get there, they have to cycle more than 1,200 kilometers.
