Monday 24th February marks the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Since the war began, around 218,000 people have come to the UK under the Homes for Ukraine scheme or the (now closed) Ukraine Family Scheme. We spoke to two Ukrainian refugees who have found a community here at Action Foundation through our Language & Learning service

At the age of 75, Nina Kravchenko, a retired school headmistress from Ukraine, finds herself back in the classroom as a pupil, learning English.

She and her husband, Volodymyr, have been students with our Language & Learning service for a year now, since fleeing Ukraine in the wake of the Russian invasion.

“I studied German at school, but not English,” Nina says.

“It is not easy to live in a country and not understand the language.  Volodymyr and I tried to learn English first on our own. However, it was challenging. Attending English classes with Action Foundation helps us to learn English in a more structured way.”

Nina and Volodymyr

Nina and Volodymyr, who is 76, were forced to flee Ukraine two years ago after the bombing became too much.

Her eyes fill with tears as she recalls having to say goodbye to Kyiv and the country she loves. It was an unimaginable wrench.

“Ukraine is a very beautiful country and its people are very hardworking,” Nina says.

“But after the invasion, every night we had to sit in the basement of our house because of the bombing. Then one day a rocket exploded on our street and damaged the house. We were in shock but literally two days after the explosion, we took my daughter-in-law and her two small children to England.

“My husband and I drove us from Kyiv to Newcastle, which took more than two days.”

The Kravchenkos have a daughter who has lived in the UK for 28 years and has a British husband. So to begin with Nina, Volodymyr, their daughter-in-law and two children, moved in with her after she arranged their visas.

“When we were in Ukraine my daughter was crying every day, ‘Mummy, daddy, you need go.’”

Their son has had to remain in Kyiv because his work is important for the war effort.

Nina says they were ‘very well received in England.’ “This gives us some relief in getting through this war,” she adds.

Nina baked a cake for another Ukrainian learner, also called Nina

Nina and Volodymyr enjoy coming to Action Foundation for their English classes. “The lessons are very interesting, creating a positive environment and great emotions,” she says.

“We have the opportunity to listen, communicate and train our memory. We are moved by how our teachers go the extra mile creating a very relaxed and welcoming atmosphere in the classroom. We have cakes and tea and celebrate birthdays. It is a fantastic way to meet many people from different countries and be part of the community. As a result of attending English classes, we are more confident to go to the GP, take the bus, and do shopping. This was not possible without the help of our daughter before.”

Nina and Volodymyr have also met other Ukrainian people by coming to classes, including Olia who is a volunteer teaching assistant with Language & Learning.

Olia’s story

Olia came to live in Durham in August 2022 with a couple who had opened their home under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

“I used to live quite close to Lviv in a beautiful city called Ivano-Frankivsk, known as the gateway to the Carpathian mountains. The airport close to my city was bombed and at the moment we just have constant air raids. Our air defence system is working non-stop because there are many drones flying over the area.”

“Every minute you would hear news about soldiers being killed or tortured.”

Olia’s parents and grandmother, aunts and uncles all still live around Lviv and Olia is in constant contact.

“They work there, their whole lives are there,” she says. “But every day I talk to them, sometimes their electricity has been cut off, we used to have blackouts for quite a long time.

“I still have an app that tells me when there is an alert in Ukraine and during the night it can happen up to ten times and it lasts for quite some time before they say it’s safe.People are so fed up now they don’t go to the shelter and unfortunately that’s problematic – because of that they are an easy target for missiles and drone attacks.”

“I came here after five months of despair. I was hoping just to come for six months or even three, but then I started ESOL at New College, Durham and I was looking to do a proper English course because I could understand English but was looking to improve my speaking and pronunciation.”

Olia’s host family have been very helpful as she’s settled into life here. Olia finished her ESOL classes at New College Durham at the same time as she completed her online degree in International Relations and she then decided to do a Master’s in Politics at Durham University. She graduated in January and now teaches English with Action Foundation whilst she looks for a permanent job.

She loves Durham for its history and enjoys helping others learn English.

Olia says: “I enjoy helping people, especially when I can see people understand what I am teaching and they can repeat it. I like being busy and being able to engage with people from different cultures. The class I am in has people from Poland, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Iraq and Kurdistan. It’s amazing.”

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