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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Artem Mazhulin and Shaun Walker in Kharkiv

‘This country gave me a lot’: the Vietnamese people staying in Ukraine

Tung Nguyen in combat fatigues holding a rifle.
Tung Nguyen: ‘I can’t even say it’s my second homeland at this point, it’s just my homeland.’ Photograph: Tung Nguyen

When Russia invaded Ukraine two years ago, Tung Nguyen drove his parents from their home, in the city of Chernihiv, to the border with Poland. Then, he returned to Kyiv and began to volunteer, bringing food and medicines to under-siege Chernihiv. Before long, he had decided to sign up and fight in the Ukrainian army.

Nguyen is part of Ukraine’s Vietnamese community, a sizeable but often hidden minority in the country. Some Vietnamese people left Ukraine after the Russian invasion, but others have stayed, particularly those from the younger generation, many of whom were born in Ukraine and are Ukrainian citizens.

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