‘We’re still adjusting’; Staten Island man and his wife tell of their escape from war-torn Ukraine

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- It has been a few weeks since Great Kills resident Ivan Zubkov and his wife Daria Sorokina, who is a Ukrainian citizen, returned safely to the U.S.

For the first time on Thursday, the couple met face-to-face with Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/South Brooklyn) and her staff who assisted them in evacuating Ukraine.

Zubkov and Sorokina, chatted with the congresswoman and her staff over a Mother Mousse cake that they brought along with flowers as tokens of their appreciation.

The young couple’s journey to return to the U.S. actually predates the war in Ukraine and the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. They met in New York through family members. After getting married, they traveled to Ukraine and applied for a spousal visa for Sorokina to be able to fly back to the states together. They submitted the application in October of 2019, and by 2021 it still hadn’t been processed.

Visa and passport requests have been severely backlogged during the pandemic due to limited staffing in the U.S. State Department and embassies, Malliotakis previously explained to the Advance/SILive.com.

“I think with our papers, it was prolonged because of COVID ... and then this thing, one on top of the other, was almost two years,” Sorokina said.

The congresswoman’s office had been working to get the couple back to the U.S. since July 2021 when Zubkov reached out for assistance.

With the embassies in Ukraine closed, people seeking to evacuate had to find their way to embassies in neighboring countries and be processed there.

The U.S. embassy in Moldova agreed to process the spousal visa.

A bus ride that would otherwise be about five hours from where the couple was in Ukraine, lasted 23 hours.

Zubkov explained that the bus stopped every five miles to go through security checkpoints.

Lily Zafaranloo, Malliotakis’ director of community affairs, was in constant contact with the couple as they journeyed back to the states. Daria noted that sometimes with the time difference Zafaranloo was up late at night communicating with them, which she said felt like connecting with a relative.

Both Zubkov and Sorokina have some family in the U.S., but Sorokina’s mother and grandmother chose to stay in Ukraine. Sorokina relayed her mother’s gratitude for Malliotakis’ and Zafaranloo’s help getting them to safety.

“We’ve been following your footsteps for all those weeks and praying you get here safely and we’re just happy that you got here safely. We were worried – it’s a scary situation; really scary situation for anybody there. And I hope your family will be safe,” Malliotakis said to her.

Sorokina’s mother and grandmother are in one of the safest regions of Ukraine, she said. She pointed out that many older people chose to stay because extensive traveling was not ideal.

“To live your whole life in this house, in this country, in this city, it’s everything,” Sorokina added, noting that her grandmother said if she were to die she wants to do so in her home country.

‘ADJUSTING’ TO BEING BACK IN THE STATES

The couple said they’ve slowly been adjusting to being back in the U.S. over the past few weeks.

They have applied for social security and are waiting on Sorokina’s green card, Zubkov said.

Sorokina worked as a project manager in Ukraine and said she thinks she will continue project management here in New York. Zubkov is a quality assurance (QA) engineer. One silver lining of the pandemic for many people was the shift to remote and hybrid working, which allowed Zubkov to work remotely in Ukraine.

When asked about things they were looking forward to, both Zubkov and Sorokina said their favorite restaurant is Cole’s Dockside in Great Kills. Sorokina noted that her husband enjoys cooking.

“We usually cook, but maybe on Thursday we will celebrate somewhere that’s great,” Zubkov said. He also said he’s been looking forward to the summertime to barbecue.