'My miracle journey from Ukraine war to Oxbridge'

Timur, 17, has always loved maths and solving puzzles

A teenager who escaped the war in Ukraine and settled in Lincoln has now won his "dream" place at the University of Cambridge.

Timur, 17, left the city of Odesa in March 2022, following the Russian invasion and subsequent air strikes.

He joined his uncle in England and enrolled at Lincoln UTC, which specialises in science and engineering. Now, he is preparing to study maths at the prestigious Trinity College.

"I can't believe it happened," he said. "When I was in Ukraine, I couldn't even imagine that I would go to UK and study at arguably the best university for maths. It's just a miracle."

Timur left his home in Odesa following the outbreak of war

Timur loved maths and puzzles while growing up, but the outbreak of war meant his education was interrupted.

Leaving his "beautiful" home city and friends was "quite stressful", but he continued his studies online during the long drive across Europe to the UK.

"I was worried for my friends that stayed in Odesa. I kept contact and I kept asking if everything's OK," he said.

Since settling into his new life in Lincoln, he has thrown himself into maths even more, though he said one of the biggest challenges was understanding the "informal" English of his fellow students.

He joined Lincoln UTC a year ahead of his age group and completed his GCSEs, before going on to study A-levels at Cambridge Maths School, which he hoped would be a stepping stone to Trinity College.

In his spare time he created a website of maths problems to tackle for fun.

When he is not studying, Timur is a keen windsurfer

He will start at university in October.

"I feel very excited to study maths in such a prestigious university," Timur added.

His mother Olha said it was "unbelievable" that her son would be studying at "one of the best universities in the world".

"I'm proud of him and I always believe and support him."

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