The invasion of Ukraine has forced millions of people to flee their homes. Many found refuge in safer areas of the country, but others went further afield as Kyiv’s allies opened their borders.
So far, 169,000 refugees have come to the UK. For our latest series here in the Ukraine live blog, we spoke to five refugees who shared stories of hardship and hope as they navigate new lives here.
Part five: My daughter speaks English now, sometimes I can’t understand her – I’m worried what happens when our visa expires
A dentist who fled to the UK with her six-year-old daughter has described the heartbreak of seeing her child “lose everything”.
Both have been forced to start their lives again, with Kristina Nepushenkov, 47, finding her qualifications aren’t recognised in the UK and Agatha restarting her education at reception level without any friends.
After a year and a half in England, Agatha is unable to read or write in Ukrainian, so Ms Nepushenkov wants to continue her education in the UK – but the visa system has left them in limbo.
“I want to make my daughter happy. She lost everything,” says Ms Nepushenkov, who lives in Maidenhead.
“She always asks ‘where are my grandparents, where is my dog, where is my father, where are my friends?’ And what I can do?”
A lot of Ms Nepushenkov’s friends stayed in Ukraine: “It’s not that they don’t care for their lives – they choose to stay because it’s very scary to lose everything.”
Ms Nepushenkov, now training in dentistry for the second time, says she knows numerous Ukrainian medical professionals, including doctors, whose qualifications could not secure them jobs in the UK.
They have found themselves earning less money and facing a higher cost of living, while struggling to find places to rent. Ms Nepushenkov and her daughter live in a one-bedroom flat.
“It is a strange feeling,” she says.
“It is like your life has completely changed. But I try to find better in this situation – because maybe for my daughter it is better to live here.”
Developing her language skills has made Agatha happier in the UK than when she first arrived, Ms Nepushenkov said.
“She started to speak with officials, with waiters in the restaurant, and she is so happy that they understood her.”
She laughs. “Sometimes I cannot understand her. English people understand her very well, but I can’t.”
Yet it could “all be for nothing”, she says, if their visas aren’t extended at the end of next year.
The pair remain in limbo over what status they will have in the UK in 2025 – while also uncertain if they will have a home to go back to in Ukraine by then.
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