A Ukraine activist has said she will be taking “a little bit” of Liverpool back home when is it safe for her to return.
Mariia Goubernik came to the city last April after Russia’s full-scale invasion of her home country. The 23-year-old, who now lives in Wavertree, was packing her bag to fly to the UK when an army tank was “literally right in front” of her window - leaving her “not in the right mindset”.
The sex therapist and blogger initially struggled to adapt to the UK but has grown to love it and what it has to offer - especially in terms of an LGBTQ+ community and queer representation.
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She told the ECHO: “Since the war started, it has been terrible for Ukraine. It’s a lovely country over here and there are certain things I definitely love about living here - social security and feeling safe as an LGBTQ+ woman - but it’s not home. I loved my country and had a perfect life over there. It’s been hard for sure and still is, but you don’t get to decide, you just need to leave to stay alive.”
When Mariia, who is pansexual, first moved to the city just shy of a year ago, she was on medication for depression. However, in the last 11 months, she has managed to find work, get involved in activism and indulge in the safe spaces dotted around the region. Mariia said it is difficult for her to explain but because of all this, she feels she is in “the right place” for now.
She said: “The LGBTQ+ community here is definitely something I love about the UK - it’s an incredible experience for me. It’s been a different feeling because it’s helped Liverpool become a temporary home for me.
"I have been a key part of the LGBTQ+ community in Ukraine and helped organised all the main Prides since 2015. Each year, we needed more police to protect us and every week when I would go to gay clubs, they were always underground, hidden with either face control or passwords.
“It did feel romanticised but being over here and to see everyone being so open, it’s really cool. I look forward to taking this little bit back with me to Ukraine and building something like Liverpool’s community over there.”
Until then, Mariia is continuing to focus on achieving equality for not only immigrants but asylum seekers through her activist work.
Having settled into her new home, Mariia ventured over to the Wirral for a rave where she met a refugee from Sudan. The two compared their experiences and despite both of them having fled their countries for their own safety, they were very different.
Mariia came to the UK on a plane and was granted her residential card and right to work in just two weeks, whereas her new friend revealed how they were an orphan who travelled here in a boat when they were just 13-years-old.
She added: “We need to work with the government on equality because right now I'm just really upset about how unequal it is in each and every field. I’m grateful for the opportunities I've got but at the same time most of my friends are immigrants and it just hurts to hear their stories and their struggle to get simple rights - simple rights that everyone else has got.”
