Ukrainian refugees visit Bradford and speak of their gratitude to the UK

The family-of-four from Sambir, a city in the region of Lyiv near the border with Poland, made its way from Warsaw, Poland to Leeds Bradford airport on Monday to stay with a distant relative from Bingley, who will act as their host.

Step-sisters, Irina and Natalia, who are in their early 30s, and Irina’s children, Maxim, 15, and Anastasia, 11, have spoken of their gratitude at being taken in by the UK, even though it all feels ‘very surreal’ at the moment.

Tony and his family

Irina Yaroslavivna, 34, who spoke to the T&A during a visit to Bradford Ukrainian Club this week, said: “We are very grateful to Tony for having us over here. We would have liked to have come to England to visit anyway before the war, we have always wanted to come and visit but we are so thankful to the English people who have made us feel so welcome since we arrived. We’re really touched by it.

“Obviously, we have to adapt to our new situation and country and the language, but we’re so grateful to everyone for helping and being so supportive,” she said.

The family will be staying with their distant cousin, former Bingley resident Tony Walker, who was married to their aunt who was also Ukrainian but died a few years ago.

They will be staying at the six-bedroom home where he now lives in Clapham-cum-Newby in the Craven district.

Mr Walker, who regularly visits Bradford Ukrainian Club, said: “The reason I wanted to bring my family across here is because I realised that this is a global catastrophe and it’s not going to go away. It’s not fair for this young family to have their life desecrated because of this terrible war.”

“The Ukrainians are peaceful people. It’s abuse of the first order, it’s terrible. These children for the next 60 years won't forget this.”

The family explained how the situation in Ukraine is “worse than you can imagine,” and even though they were in a quieter area of the country, the bombing and shelling were getting “too close to home” as they started to hear bombs dropping in the distance.

Natalia, who had to leave behind her brother in the Ukrainian army said: “When the sirens go off, it’s really upsetting for the children, they’re watching it all on TV, it’s really upsetting for them. They had a curfew. Everything has changed on the street, there are soldiers with rifles on the streets now.”

The women, are professionals in Ukraine and work as Ukrainian language teachers and a fitness and basketball coach at a college. They emphasised how they want to become independent, get jobs and be able to support themselves.

Anastasia, who despite the relocation has still been attending her lessons at school virtually, said that so far she likes it here in England, especially because her host has a dog she can play with.

Meanwhile, retired couple Steve and Anna Pearce from Ilkley are also preparing their garage apartment to take in three Ukrainian refugees who they were paired with via Leeds-based travel company GOAT Roadtrip.

The couple will be housing sisters Kateryna, 28, Daryna, 33, and Daryna's four-year-old son Jaroslav who have hailed Mr and Mrs Pearce as a "miracle" for offering them a safe haven.

"It’s a little bit strange because it’s a new experience for me and my sister especially," said Kateryna who fled Kyiv as soon as Russian troops made their advance. "When I saw photos of the family, it was like a miracle.

"We want to go back to Ukraine now so much, but I know I can make something beautiful from this situation.

"This situation is horrible, I know, but we have to find something. This is an amazing opportunity to meet people like this."

Mr Pearce said he was moved to register with Homes for Ukraine as a father and grandfather watching images of young women and their children fleeing the Russian invasion.

“We could relate to what we saw and we couldn’t really look ourselves in the face and find a reason not to help,” he said. “This has been a big leap of faith but then these women have had the resilience to get this far. We felt compelled to do something.”