Ipswich: Life for Ukrainian refugees, one year on from war

Alona, 37, has found an Ipswich apartment with her teenage son, who has settled into secondary school after joining last year at the end of the summer term. 

Yelyzaveta, 26, still lives with her host family of ‘angels’, and is celebrating having recently passed her driving theory test. 

The two women work for Suffolk Refugee Support in St Matthew’s Street in the centre of town, having been forced to dismantle their lives in Ukraine after its invasion from Russia, which began one year ago today on February 24, 2022. 

Artwork has been painted on a damaged apartment block near the business tower in Kyiv, ahead of the first anniversary on Friday of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Credit: PA (Image: PA)

Alona and Yelyzaveta’s days are now spent offering support and advice to refugees, people like themselves who have been forced to flee their home countries.  

This is a word they never imagined would apply to them. 

“The word ‘guest’ hides the horror of what is happening,” said Yelyzaveta, a qualified lecturer and teacher of English. 

“I am a refugee, and what is happening in my country is war.” 

She fled Ukraine on March 6 with her best friend, the friend’s 17-month-old baby, another woman who they did not know but who had a car and was willing to drive them, and this woman’s husky.  

The weeks beforehand had been a nightmarish experience, with Yelyzaveta camping out in the corridor of her apartment building, fearful that bombs would shatter the windows. 

To begin with, Yelyzaveta said she felt that she was in a nightmare she may wake up from. 

“The moment I truly understood, I was walking in the street. I had been to buy groceries,” she said. 

“Then the sirens started. Suddenly, there were soldiers in front me and soldiers behind me. Then one of them raised his gun. 

“I knew that Russian soldiers torture people. I hoped he would shoot me in my head, or my chest. I just hoped he would kill me quickly. 

“I was 25, and thinking about how I would die.” 

The soldiers turned out to be Ukrainian and were using their guns to direct her towards a bomb shelter, but it was in this moment that Yelyzaveta knew she had to leave.  

On Monday, President Biden met with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, to renew America's support for the country. Credit: PA (Image: PA)

A shell of a destroyed building in Mirra on the outskirts of Kyiv, an area previously occupied by Russian troops. Credit: PA (Image: PA)

Her family remains in Ukraine, and it is for this reason that she has chosen not to disclose her last name. 

When the invasion began, Alona, 37, was celebrating paying off her mortgage in Kyiv and was getting ready to apply for her third degree course in psychology. 

She had not believed her friends' and family’s fears that a war was imminent. 

“I told them, this is the 21st century, of course there will not be a war,” Alona said. “I was wrong.” 

She wrestled for two weeks with the decision of whether to stay in Ukraine. 

“Everyone was saying, you need to leave. You need to save your child,” she said.  

“It was dangerous to stay, but it was also dangerous to go.  

“It was the hardest decision I have ever had to make. A decision of life and death.” 

Reaching the Romanian border was a mission in itself, for all road signs had been destroyed. Satellite navigation would not work, and it had been forbidden to reveal ‘safe routes’ out of the country.  

“A safe route now will not be safe in a few hours time,” explained Alona. 

She drove to the border, following her neighbor and his family, althogh he himself could not leave, as it this time, only women and children were permitted to leave the country.

Alona queued for 27 hours, willing herself to stay awake. 

“I was like a zombie,” she said. “I was dreaming of finding a safe place, of taking off all my layers of clothing, getting to wash, being able to sleep.” 

Like Yelyzaveta, she is immensely grateful to her host family for providing herself and her son with a safe place to stay.  

She now supports refugees in Ipswich seeking work, helping them to apply for jobs. 

Suffolk Refugee Support said: “One year on, we have supported hundreds of people to settle and succeed in their new lives, and we are inspired on a daily basis by their resilience and humour.  

“If there is any silver lining to such a dreadful situation, it is that we are now privileged to count Ukrainians among our friends and work colleagues, and we have been blown away by the generous response of the people of Suffolk welcoming refugees into their own homes.  

“We share the hopes of every Ukrainian we work with that the horrendous war that has destroyed so many lives will end soon.”