Ukrainian teenager Kate Kozyrieva is heading home after an action-packed four months spent with her relatives in Rowlands Gill.
Thirteen-year-old Kate travelled with her cousin Daniil Dushaiev to stay with his sister and her husband, who settled in the Gateshead village two years ago. Slava Shumihin flew to Poland to bring her brother Daniil to the UK in April, after their mother Anhela, signed up to the Territorial Defence Force to fight against the Russian invasion in Ukraine's capital Kyiv and she decided that it was too dangerous for 15-year-old Daniil to stay at home.
Kate was originally going to stay with her parents and older brother in their village outside Kyiv, but her parents were growing increasingly concerned about their daughter's safety and made the snap decision to evacuate her after the village next to theirs was bombed.
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"We had to go into the basement and we heard a lot of bombs and shooting,'" said Kate. "My parents made a really quick decision and drove me for 10 hours to the border, where I met Salva and Daniil. "I left so quickly I was wearing my mum's shoes, which are two sizes too big, and my brother's hoodie."
Kate arrived in Rowlands Gill with Daniil with just the clothes she was wearing, but quickly settled into the community, which has welcomed their temporary residents with open arms. And although Kate had enjoyed her time in the UK, she decided to head back to her home country after four months away from her parents, older brother and the family dog.
"I feel sad about leaving my cousin Daniil, my new friends and neighbours but I am happy that I will see my parents after four month of being separated," she said. "It's still dangerous in Ukraine but I want to be with my family as we’ve never been apart before.
"A lot of our friends have returned to Ukraine because they love Ukraine, we want to support our country to become independent and successful, so people want to continue living there. I feel like I have a second life in the UK with people around who love me , but I missed my family and I want to hug them so much."
During her time in the UK, Kate attended St Thomas More RC School, in Blaydon, with Daniil, but she said that she didn't know whether she would be attending school in Ukraine or continuing with online schooling, as she did before she left.
"Nobody knows what will happen because at any moment there can be missiles and air siren and people need to be in shelter," she said. "My new friends Emily and Lily brought me a present of an album where they put our photos for the last three months at school. I’ll miss my classmates , they were so kind to me and teachers who helped with lessons and translated part of them into Ukrainian.
"I made a lot of new friends at school and at drama class. I will miss them very much and will keep in touch. Depending on the situation in Ukraine I might come back, but I don’t know. I’ll miss our neighbours - they are amazing, I’ve never met such wonderful people.
"Chris and Claire brought me a Harry Potter book and magic wand as a leaving present, also they helped me with clothes, books, skates, bike and a lot of other things. Janet gave me a bracelet with lettering “stay safe”, it's so kind. I’ll miss Oleg, Slava and Daniil , we spent a lot of time together cycling, rowing, going to beautiful places and playing board games. And other wonderful people who I’ve met here.
"I like the atmosphere, it’s gorgeous, everyone is smiling, kind, welcoming and friendly and with open hearts - but it would be nice if the weather was as warm as the people are!"
lava and her husband, Oleg, 40, have lived in Rowlands Gill for two years. In March, operations manager Slava told of the horror of the Russian troops invading her country. "The sky is red from explosions clearly visible from my family home in Kyiv. They are seeing this every day," said Slava, who organised a collection of humanitarian aid from the community in the early days of the conflict.
Both Slava's mother Anhela, 59, and Oleg's mother, Tetiana, 62, signed up as volunteers with the Territorial Defence Force in their home cities of Kyiv and Poltava respectively, and it was Slava's mum who suggested she arrange collections for the Defence Force.
In April, Slava flew to Poland to collect her brother, and returned with Kate as well, and she admitted that having two teens in their small two-bedroom home was a challenge at first. "We weren't expecting to be parents of two teens yet and we were not really prepared for this life turn," said Slava.
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