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.

She also struck up an instant friendship with Nolan household’s dogs Bonnie and Clyde, though now it is just the latter.

Khyrstyna and Clyde, an ex-racing greyhound, “just love each other,” says Julie, who is in her sixties.

She adds that it has been a “wonderful” experience hosting Khrystyna - and they plan on raising a glass to her homeland at the Ukrainian club today.

Julie adds: “Khrystyna has just made herself so at home and shares our meals with us but she also regularly makes dishes from home that we can share so she is still having her Ukrainian input.

“She also made a special bread for us at Easter which is traditional to her part of Ukraine and made special Ukrainian dishes at Christmas to go with our traditional meals, although she found the idea of me making a Christmas cake so early a little strange.

“She managed to get home for a visit three months ago and brought back two beautiful traditional Ukrainian tops for us.

“We have also been invited to go to her home and visit Ukraine when the war is over, which we will be doing.

"We love her to bits.”

People who want to offer a home to those fleeing Ukraine can record their interest in doing so, or find out more information, on the Government’s website.

Minister for Housing and Homelessness, Felicity Buchan, says: “As we celebrate Ukraine Independence Day today, we continue to stand in solidarity with Ukraine against Putin’s illegal invasion.

“Thousands of people have opened their hearts and homes to Ukrainian people fleeing their country, including so many families in Yorkshire.

“The heart-warming story of Julie and Andrew opening their home to Khrystyna, and how well she has now settled into her life here with them, is testament to the selfless nature of people across the country.

"We're proud to be able to welcome so many Ukrainians like Khrystyna into this country through our Homes for Ukraine scheme, and I would encourage anyone who can help to do so."

Julie, for one, has no regrets.

“Khrystyna knows that, whatever happens, she's always got here. The house is always a home for her while she’s in England.”