Alina will never forget the words written in red block letters when she turned on the news one fateful morning in February last year: “Putin started the war.” As a journalist living in kyiv, she had heard all the predictions that an invasion by Russian forces was imminent, but her brain didn’t want to believe it, she says.
Now living with a ‘beautiful’ family in Altrincham, the 32-year-old recalls the appalling conditions she endured for six months, sheltering in the cold corridors of her apartment block and in her dank basement, before moving to Greater Manchester on last summer. One year after Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, her message to Greater Manchester is simple: “Thank you.”
“It is important that we understand that we are not alone,” he said. “Ukrainians are very brave people, Ukrainians are very strong.
READ MORE: A year after the war, how Greater Manchester embraced Ukraine and its people
“But it’s very important for us to have this inner feeling that we’re not alone and we’re grateful for all the people around the world who support us.”
Speaking at a press conference called by Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham on the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Alina Kostrubitska explained what life is like in kyiv now. Having visited the city where her husband and her mother still live for the first time since they left six months ago, she reported that her hometown looks “a little different” today.
The downtown area smells like gasoline, he told the news conference, because of the generators that power businesses instead of electricity. Traffic lights also don’t work at night for the same reason, he explained.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he said his daily video conversations with his relatives who stayed behind are often interrupted by poor internet connection. Her family has faced days without hot water.
However, when asked how he is coping, he expressed his gratitude for his life now in the UK. “Everything is really perfect except I’m not home,” she said.
Liudmyla Hryshyna also moved to Greater Manchester last summer. She fled Kharkiv, a city in a region that had been occupied by Russian forces for months, when her apartment building was shelled last March.
“We saw all the explosions, all the fires outside our window,” he said, speaking in Ukrainian at the news conference. Alina, who translated for her, explained that Liudmyla’s 91-year-old father-in-law lived near her in Kupiansk.
He was left lying alone in his garage for days before soldiers rescued him after an attack destroyed his home. Her husband had stayed in Kharkiv to care for her frail father, but she left with her 15-year-old son and her 26-year-old daughter to live in Poltava before finding a host family in the United Kingdom.
While her daughter is now in western Ukraine, Liudmyla and her son live with a family in Manchester whom she is very grateful to have found. She is also grateful to the schools that have allowed her son to continue learning.
“It is very important that her son continue to study because now there are no functioning schools in Kharkiv and education can only be online,” Alina said.
On behalf of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain, Bohdan Ratych also shared his thanks to Greater Manchester and the UK government. He urged the country to continue supporting the fight for freedom in Ukraine.
He echoed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has repeatedly said that his country is fighting not just for its own independence, but for the security of Europe and the rest of the world. And he explained that even after winning the war, Ukraine will need financial help, worth an estimated $80 billion, to rebuild its totally destroyed bridges, hospitals and apartment buildings.
Bohdan hopes that British companies will continue to be “at the forefront” in providing this financial support. The British national who runs the Ukrainian Cultural Center on Cheetham Hill thanked the local authorities for opening their doors and helping those displaced by the Russian invasion.
However, he reminded members of the media at the event in Manchester on Friday (February 24) that these refugees would rather be at home. “The people who are here are transient, they are here temporarily,” she said.
“They don’t want to be here. They are here because they want to take their children; it is mainly the mothers and children who want to escape the shelling, the shooting and the horrible stories we hear in Ukraine.”
The press conference also heard from Jackie Snell, director of fundraising and communications for UK Med, a frontline medical aid charity that helped send 130 NHS doctors to Ukraine and set up mobile clinics in the country. The organization also helped train surgeons and first responders in Ukraine.
Now the Manchester-based charity is relaunching its national appeal, asking the public to donate money to support British doctors helping in Ukraine. Burnham said the city-region will also support Kyiv, whose mayor Vitali Klitschko has appealed for help through the Global Network of Resilient Cities.
The mayor of Greater Manchester said the city-region has welcomed at least 2,000 people from Ukraine since the war began last year. Reflecting on the stories shared by Alina and Liudmyla, he said: “The Ukrainian people have shown us what true strength looks like, what true courage looks like.
“The world has been inspired by the people of Ukraine for the last 12 months. Resilience is really something that shows us what human beings can do and what challenges can be overcome.
“Ukraine will ultimately prevail, there is no doubt about it.”
For more information on how to donate to UK Med, visit www.uk-med.org.
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