Ukrainian refugee's third Christmas away from home

Svetlana Tseneko says an end to the ongoing war in Ukraine is the only Christmas wish for the country

A Ukrainian woman who has sought refuge in the UK has said she has mixed feelings about celebrating Christmas away from her home country.

Svetlana Tseneko lives in Maidenhead with her teenage daughter whilst her husband remains in Ukraine.

She initially stayed in Windsor with a host family before finding her own home in Maidenhead.

This will be her third Christmas spent in Berkshire after leaving Ukraine following Russia's invasion of the country in February 2022.

Svetlana said: "Christmas is Christmas but it's difficult. It's [mixed] feelings.

"First of all you want to celebrate, [but] you feel absolutely sorry for the ones who aren't at home and aren't with their families.

"There are a lot of [those] people on the front line at the moment."

Svetlana, whose daughter is now settled into a local school, said focusing on the joy of Christmas was the best thing for her family.

"You still have to live in the moment and you still have children who want [to] party, who want the presents.

She added: "We're all trying to stay optimistic that [the war] will end soon.

"That's the only Christmas wish for the Ukrainian country at the moment".

Some Ukrainian children in Berkshire had been able to celebrate their own traditions earlier this month according to Mick Polleck, from the Reading Ukrainian Community Centre.

"We had St Nicholas come to Reading School and give presents to all the children," he said.

He added the centre was sending four vehicles of supplies to Ukraine, including aid intended for an orphanage near the front line.