Ukrainian grandmother, 95, given generator after BBC radio link

Irina Kazimir could now stay warm, her granddaughter Oksana Karnaukh said

A 95-year-old woman in Ukraine has been gifted a generator by a UK charity after a link-up with BBC local radio.

Irina Kazimir's granddaughter Oksana Karnaukh, who lives on the Isle of Wight, told BBC Radio Solent of her relative's plight.

Five days later, the equipment from Dorset charity Ukraine Relief arrived at her grandmother's home near Kyiv.

Ms Karnaukh said it was the first generator in Irina's community, which has experienced a number of blackouts.

The generator was sent by UK charity Ukraine Relief

"We have no electricity sometimes, no water, heating," the granddaughter told BBC Radio Solent's Ukraine and Us programme.

"Now my grandmother can even read her favourite books. She will not be cold."

Ms Karnaukh fled Ukraine with her son Kosta, leaving her husband behind, before being given a home by a host family.

Ms Karnaukh fled Ukraine and came to live in the UK

She told her story to the programme's guest presenter Karol Swiacki, a BBC Radio Solent Make a Difference award winner, who set up the Bournemouth charity.

"To find [a generator] in Ukraine, it's impossible. So now we are trying to find something in England and I don't know how to send it," she told the broadcast.

Mr Swiacki replied: "This is the lucky day for you because from our organisation today we have 27 generators arriving in Lviv. Ukraine Relief will help you out."

The charity's founder Karol Swiacki (right) is the guest presenter of a BBC Radio Solent programme on Ukraine

Ms Karnaukh's mother Hellen, who still lives in Ukraine, said: "My mother Irina is going through [a] second war. She remembers [how] terrible war is. She knows how to lose loved ones, how to live in such terrible conditions.

"We thank the volunteers for the opportunity to get warmth, warm food, for the opportunity to read a book."