One year ago today, Russian troops invaded Ukraine and began a relentless campaign of bombing raids and tank warfare that forced families to flee their homes.
Many refugees, assisted by the British government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme ended up in Swindon, where newly formed charities like Swindon Welcomes Ukraine and the Swindon Humanitarian Aid Partnership offered support to the new arrivals and sent donated aid back to their homeland.
Nataliya Suhodeva used to work for the Poland-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce office in Kyiv, and knew a lot of people in the Donetsk region which has been hit particularly hard by Russian forces.
For the last year, she has been a big part of SHAP, collecting donations and driving vans full of medication, food, and clothing from the UK to Ukraine.
She said: “The war has been a nightmare. I haven’t heard from my cousins in Kharkiv since the bombings on day one, I’m very worried about them but no-one knows what’s happened.
“My mum lived in Kyiv and her house was partly destroyed by a Russian tank. I could not sleep or eat or drink while they were evacuating her, I just kept crying so much, frozen with fear - but luckily, she is now safe in Poland.
“When I drove aid to Ukraine, I met people who delivered it to the East, where families who either can’t or don’t want to leave their homes are living in the ruins, scared, with children growing up in cellars and thinking that’s normal.
“We try to bring something nice for them and keep them heated during the terrible winter, trying to give them the warmth from our hearts by providing trench candles and generators.
“They’re trying to survive through such a difficult time so we want to help them as much as we can and we feel satisfied by doing something rather than just sitting and waiting and watching the war play out on TV.”
Liana Tatanova of Swindon Welcomes Ukraine moved to the UK last April after spending the start of the conflict in Western Ukraine and then in Kyiv, where her mother, sister and friends still live.
She met fellow refugees after attending a meet-up at the Pattern Church in Swindon one Tuesday evening.
The 22-year-old has spent much of her time here helping to organise projects which offer support to others in her situation, like repairing and donating bikes to children in the town or creating a beer which will raise money for aid charities.
She speaks to her mother and sister every day over the phone and managed to reunite with her loved ones for the first time in months at a safe middle-ground location between the warzone and her new home.
Liana said: “I miss my family so much, I was very happy to see them face to face and appreciated our time together. I love Ukraine with all my heart, but I understood that I could not stay there.
“I wanted to take my family with me, but they wanted to stay and I can’t make decisions for them. They are very brave – it’s scary because it’s not safe there and you don’t know what might happen next.
“When I came here, I felt that I needed to find more Ukrainians and help Ukraine from abroad.
“People here support each other so much that it manages to feel a bit like home. They are very open to helping us, which all Ukrainians are very thankful for.
“There are more systems in place to provide help to people in the UK than in Ukraine, and I think people are friendlier here – they smile more and call you ‘darling’ or ‘my love’ at the shops.
“You spend so much time in the UK that you become used to it - but sometimes, there are moments where I get a realisation that I’m so incredibly far from home.”
Liana finished her university degree in business management during the last few months and is now looking for a job or internship that will put this specialism to good use. She hopes more people will join Swindon Welcomes Ukraine at the weekly Pattern Church meet-ups.
As the war rumbles on, what are its citizens’ hopes for the future – could this continue for another year, or perhaps even longer?
Liana added: “All people want is for this to end. We hope that the war will stop as soon as possible but no-one knows, we can only hope.”
Nataliya added: “We are so thankful for the support of the British people and government, it’s unbelievable. I’ve met so many people who are doing a lot to help, which gives us so much strength and the hope that we will win.
“It’s so unpredictable. Putin is a terrible person and has influenced the heads and hearts of the Russian people for 30 years. He does not want to stop at Ukraine, he wants to go further into Europe, he is not a peaceful man.
“But we hope the war ends soon because Ukraine needs peace so that it can start to rebuild its cities, clear mines from the land and rejuvenate the soil for growing crops.”
Mike Bowden is the director of the Swindon Humanitarian Aid Partnership.
He added: “The last year has been a really humbling experience. I used to know no Ukrainians and now several are close friends. They are extraordinary, resilient and uncomplaining, despite all they have gone through.
“It’s been a privilege and an honour to work for them and I hope this war will not go on much longer, though I fear it will. In any case, we are here to help support the people of Ukraine in the best way we can.”
Visit the Swindon Humanitarian Aid Partnership Facebook page or Swindon Welcomes Ukraine’s website www.ukraineswindon.com
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