He, his wife and their four children fled quickly from Kyiv a year ago. They settled in Berlin, where Oleksandr Denysenko, known as Sascha, also found a new job. The 47-year-old works in quality management at Green Wind. Sascha is a qualified lawyer who previously worked as a specialist in internal control and risk management in Ukraine.

Welcome to Green Wind, Sascha! You’ve been at Green Wind since the beginning of the year. How are you doing here?

First of all, I’d like to say that I’m delighted to have gotten this job. I’m especially pleased that my work at Green Wind is similar to my work in Ukraine. I was contacted by Christoph Heilmann from Green Wind Engineering. He is an acquaintance of my family and of my niece, a long-term resident of Berlin.

What exactly does your job here entail?

At present, I’m working with Sandra Zanzig and Andreas Texheimer to prepare documents for the performance of an internal audit of the company in order to check compliance with the requirements of ISO 14001 in the field of environmental management. Green Wind’s activities are geared towards reducing the negative impact of production processes on the environment. Measures to improve specific processes are under development.

How did your journey from Ukraine to Berlin go?

My grandfather experienced war and now we are again too. We were driven by fear. Our children should grow up in safety. Our niece said: Come to Berlin, you can live with me! We decided to flee. From March 2022, nearly all roads were occupied by Russian soldiers and the situation was changing daily. We spent more than two days traveling to Berlin on several trains. Even if there were peace, I don’t know if I’d be able to trust Russia ever again. Our family wants to stay in Berlin if we get an extension to our residence and work permits.

How is your family doing?

My wife is a teacher. She’s learning German and already speaks it much better than me. She’s volunteering at a nursery and the Berliner Tafel food bank and wants to work at a nursery potentially. My eldest daughter is continuing her studies in Kyiv online and my other three children are going to school in Pankow. We have our own apartment here, too.

What are your career plans?

Once I’ve improved my German, I’m planning to take a course to gain more in-depth knowledge of internal control and risk management. I also need to submit documents for the recognition of a Ukrainian degree.

Thank you!