01-03-2025
Ukrainian woman, 21, living in Colchester recounts terrifying war on anniversary
UKRANIAN refugees and their Colchester host families marked the third anniversary of Russia's invasion with over 320 Ukrainians being welcomed
Colchester residents were invited to gather at the Old Library of the Town Hall to mark February 24, 2022, when Russia launched the largest and deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two.
Liudmyla Korokhivska, 21, was just 18 when the war broke out.
She said that in Ternopil, in the west of Ukraine, the war had "already been going on for eight years' following Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014.
Liudmyla said that as her father is in the military and her mother is a key worker that she had to go to Poland to work for three months as 'there was no money' due to the war effort.
Liudmyla was given a host family in Hadleigh, describing her host 'as an older mum' who gave her 'everything', including clothes and hygiene products as she was only able to bring a suitcase of belongings.
Help - Liudmyla said that her host helped her with her documents, medication, and her stress (Image: Newsquest) After four months, Liudmyla moved to accommodation at Essex University, and is now in her second year of studying AI.
She says she struggled because her sister, 13, remains in Ukraine and could not come with her because Liudmyla is a student without stable accommodation.
She added: 'I know that a lot of Ukrainians are dealing with depression.
'We need support, and we have it as the University of Essex has provided us with this."
Response - Host Andrew Neill said schools, hospitals, and businesses have all opened their arms in Colchester (Image: Newsquest) Andrew Neill, 57, from Lexden, has hosted refugees before from Sudan, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and the Congo, so he knew when the war broke out that he could take a family.
Andrew said that of the family of six he hosted, the two girls, now aged six and 12, came to the UK without any English, but now speak English and Ukrainian "with a very Essex accent'.
He added: 'The fact that Colchester as a city has been willing to open its doors to so many from Ukraine has made it easier for us to host."
