Ukrainian Independence Day: Woman who fled homeland to settle in Bradford using Homes for Ukraine tells her story

“There were actually around 11 people living with us for six months,” says Khrystyna, as other relatives, like many around the country, flocked to the western part of the country.

“In the first days we were all confused, no one knew what to do. And then you’re just used to it, you just live,” she says.

She spoke to The Yorkshire Post ahead of today’s Independence Day of Ukraine, which commemorates the country winning its sovereignty in 1991, but takes on extra poignancy amid the current conflict.

After the invasion, Khrystyna’s psychology course at university in Lviv halted and she spent the next six months staying with her family while volunteering to get essential supplies moving and collecting donations.

But her parents wanted her to leave the country, like some of her friends had, for her own safety.

She now lives in the Great Horton area of Bradford, West Yorkshire, with sponsors Julie and Andrew Nolan.

The couple had registered to take in a refugee through the Government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme but also made contact with the Bradford Ukrainian Club, and first got to know Khrystyna through email, instant messaging and video calls.

Julie says: “Before Khrystyna arrived it was important to try and get some sort of relationship already developing. Finding out the silly things like, obviously, making sure she likes animals because we have dogs, (and) ‘what food do you like?’”

On Monday, it will be a year exactly since Khrystyna arrived in England.

“In the first month it was very difficult to understand the Yorkshire accent,” says Khrystyna, now 19.

Julie adds: “We kept having to slow down the way we were speaking. Because her English was actually quite good when she arrived, but obviously the accents are totally different.”

However, in a way it was new territory for all of them.

“We've got two grown up boys,” says Julie.

“They’re both in their own homes now. So for a long time, it had just been the two of us. Obviously, we hadn't had a daughter, we just had two sons, so to suddenly find that there was the possibility of an 18-year-old girl coming to stay with us, that was a bit of a surprise.”

Khrystyna’s visa initially lasts for three years and she is hoping to attend the University of Bradford to study international business and management, another area of interest.

“Learning something about England and England’s culture may give me some knowledge that I can bring to my country and do something useful in my country,” she says.

She has also joined the Ukrainian ladies choir, Fiyalka, and taken trips around Yorkshire as well as to Blackpool and London.

Khrystyna, who has found work at the Debar door factory in Bradford, speaks to her parents every day over the phone.

At the moment, their hometown is safe and they have no plans to move. Meanwhile, one of her brothers has resettled in Poland and another in Canada.