Ukraine: Refugee in Evesham refuses to give in to hate

Yuliia has thanked the kindness of people in Evesham

A Ukrainian refugee who has come to England said despite the Russian invasion: "I cannot just hate".

Yuliia, who is now staying with a former teacher in Evesham, Worcestershire, also said: "Because I'm alive I have to continue my life and I need to have a way and to go forward."

She has been offered work in the town and said: "I feel safe now."

"I have the place where I don't have shots, explosions and I can go to shop, I can go to outside," she added.

She was living in Mikolaiv when the war broke out and said: "I don't I understand why it's happened."

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Yuliia is one of three refugees staying with Emma Nishigaki through the Homes for Ukraine scheme and she said she was grateful for simple things like not having to turn the lights off in her room for fear of attack.

Emma Nishigaki said she wanted to do "something small" for the people of Ukraine

Ms Nishigaki said: "I feel like a guilt that I'm living somewhere safe, that I'm not involved, that I'm not going through what they've been through."

She said that taking in refugees and making their life easier "sort of helps me cope with that guilt".

She has set up a support centre for refugees in Evesham.

Elena was on holiday when the war broke out in Ukraine

Fellow refugee Elena, from Kherson, was on holiday with her boyfriend in Barcelona when the war broke out.

She said: "My boyfriend woke me up, telling me that the war started. I picked up my phone and there were messages from my friends, from my family."

Elena said her city is occupied now and the central market has been destroyed, but her 72-year-old grandmother has been forced to stay because of a health condition.

She and Yuliia now take it in turns to cook and have become friends.

Yuliia said she was "100% sure" Ukraine would win the war, because her country's armed forces "are magic".