Brazil's "Little Ukraine" welcomes Ukrainian refugees

Record ID: 1671105

  • Title: Brazil's "Little Ukraine" welcomes Ukrainian refugees
  • Date: 2nd May 2022
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) BAPTIST CHURCH MISSIONARY, VITALII ARSHULIK, SAYING: "Various groups of Ukrainian refugees arrived here to Brazil. There are many Evangelical churches of different denominations, and our Baptist Church is part of that (receiving refugees). We have made it possible for those Ukrainians to arrive to Brazil."
  • Embargoed: 16th May 2022 20:59
  • Keywords: Brazil Prudentopolis Ukraine refugees
  • Location: PRUDENTOPOLIS, PARANA STATE, BRAZIL
  • City: PRUDENTOPOLIS, PARANA STATE, BRAZIL
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,South America / Central America
  • Reuters ID: LVA003532602052022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Ukrainians and Brazilians of Ukrainian descent living in the Brazil's Prudentopolis, commonly known as "Little Ukraine", held a special ceremony to welcome recently arrived Ukrainian refugees on Sunday (May 1) .
    During the ceremony, members of the folk group Vesselka performed traditional dances for a cheerful audience.
    Baptist Church missionary Vitalii Arshulik told Reuters that churches of different denominations got together to help bring the refugees to Prudentopolis.
    On Monday (May 2) the U.N. Refugee Agency reported that more than 5.5 million people have fled Ukraine since the war began on Feb. 24.
    Prudentopolis is located in the southern state of Parana. Ukrainian migrants, many from the western Galicia region that includes the city of Lviv, began arriving in Prudentopolis in 1896, according to local historians.
    They found a welcome home in the vast, fertile south of Brazil. The country, which had recently abolished slavery, was desperate for workers to develop its farmland, and actively recruited Europeans through publicity campaigns.
    The people of Prudentopolis, named after former Brazilian President Prudente de Morais, have retained surprisingly close ties with Ukraine. Over three-quarters of the town's 52,000 people speak some Ukrainian, its official second language.
    (Production: Pilar Olivares, Sebastian Rocandio, Nina Lopez)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2022. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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