A teenager who fled the war in Ukraine has told of her heartbreak at losing her father who stayed behind in their home near Kyiv. Yuliia Batrak, 17, arrived in Wales last year with her mother Liudmyla and sister Alona, seven, to live with sponsors.
Father Andrii and brother Sacha, now 25, remained in Ukraine where Sacha volunteers for the military. Earlier this year Andrii, who worked as a chauffeur before the Russian invasion, died, aged 50 from cancer after a very short illness.
Now Yuliia is planning to travel back to Ukraine to honour her dad’s memory at her delayed school prom paid for in part with her winnings from a college prize in Wales. It will be a bittersweet day for the Coleg Llandrillo student because she always dreamed her father would be there.
“When I started school I used to say I would need money for my prom dress and hair and nails and he said “OK”. I was expecting all my life that my father would be there, but he is always in my mind.
“I last spoke to my father a month and a half ago - he had been ill for four months when he passed away. He did get help, but it was too late.
“I have no idea how safe it will be going back. But I have been waiting for my school prom all my life. I will see my friends and it will be very emotional.”
Yuliia is looking forward to being re-united with her brother, grandmother. teachers and friends, some of whom are returning from around the globe. Although there are some risks in returning to a country at war, she said they want to attend the prom. delayed for two years, as a way of showing their determination and resilience.
All of them finished school online and Yuliia began studying catering and hospitality at Coleg Llandrillo in September last year. Liudmyla, who now works for a housekeeping service in Colwyn Bay, travelled back to Ukraine to see her husband at the end of his life, but the teenager wanted to remember him before war and illness struck.
The 17 year-old is off to a good start at making the best life she can to honour his memory after winning a top national prize and prizes from Coleg Llandrillo. Yuliia, who hopes to return to Ukraine one day to open a restaurant, was awarded the hospitality and tourism achiever award at Coleg Llandrillo's Further Education Achiever Awards and the Overall Student of the Year award for Coleg Llandrillo.
She also became the first ever competitor to score a maximum 100 points in both her competitions at the Welsh International Culinary Championship. Yuliia, who studies at the college’s Rhos-on-Sea campus, was awarded two gold medals at the Welsh International Culinary Championship in February after scoring the unprecedented maximum 100 points in each competition - the first competitor ever to achieve this in the 25-year history of the contest.
She will use her prize money to travel back to Ukraine for her school prom and buy a gown for the celebrations. When she returns to Wales she will prepare for more competitions and hopes to make it into the UK skills team for catering.
Although she loves life in Wales she said the last two years have been hard. She is able to speak to her brother every few days on Facetime, but is worried for his safety and for her cousins and friends who are fighting. She did not want to go into detail about what they do and where, for fear of their safety, but said she believes her country will not be destroyed.
“My brother volunteers helping with the war effort. I am so worried for him. Every day there are rockets in Kyiv. My cousins are in the military. I know people fighting and know people who have lost people.”
Yuliia is grateful to people in Wales who have welcomed her, the college and her tutor Glen Hughes: “Glen has supported me all the way since the first day I started. The college gives really good opportunities to work hard and to improve yourself.
“Last year was really awful for me but with each day at the college I’ve started to be happier and happier. My mum left the country with my sister and I without another language and not knowing where she was going to go, so she is really proud of me winning this award, and so happy.”
Yuliia also thanked their sponors William and Helen Moore in Colwyn Bay. The teenager, her mother and sister, stayed with them and their daughter Erin for three months before moving into their own rented flat.
“It was really heart breaking leaving you home, your friends and family, everything you have, with just two small suitcases. It was heart breaking leaving my dad, my brother and my country behind, but we could not stay. It was not safe.”
Recalling the morning of the invasion Yuliia said she had been preparing for a history exam that day in school and had laid out her clothes for the day ahead. Instead the family were woken at 4am by explosions as Russian rockets rained down on the Ukrainian capital.
“We were about 5km away from the main explosions in the city centre but we could hear it really loudly. After that we slept in bomb shelters.”
Two months later the teenager made the journey to the railway station with her mother and sister to make the 17-hour train journey to Warsaw. Then they took a flight on to Britain and Wales.
“When we were leaving the city there were air alarms and we left the station to that sound. I was in Ukraine for two months after the invasion and clearly remember the first days of war.”
Yuliia is happy to live and study in Wales. But one day her dream is to return and achieve Ukraine’s first Michelin starred restaurant.
“I am grateful for all the support here. Wales is an amazing place. I have lots of friends who went to different countries and I realise how lucky I am to be here and get this support.”
Yuliia plans one day to take her friends and tutors from Wales back to Ukraine and show them her country. Her tutor Glen believes she has the determination an skill to open her own restaurant one day in Kyiv and said he looked forward to eating there one day.
"Yuliia has enthusiasm and immense talent and skill. With everything she has been through nothing has stopped her. She is one to watch in future. I can see her going far."
