Ukrainian language teacher Lidiia Nicholls, 36, moved to the UK in November 2017 after marrying her husband Scott, 43, and the pair now live in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, with their young family.
Lidiia’s biggest worry is her mother Nataliya, 59. She had just been visiting her daughter for 10 days, but decided to fly back to western Ukraine as she didn’t want to be away from family that lived in the country.
“I didn’t want her to go back and I was very worried,” says Lidiia.
“Despite a lot of announcements about flights being cancelled, my mum was desperate to go back home. Even though she would have been safe here in the UK, she didn’t want to stay because Ukraine is her home and my brother and nieces and nephews are there.”
Lidiia is originally from the city of Ternopil, which is around 140 miles from the Polish border. “I do feel safer knowing my mother is in the west of the country,” she says.
“Because it’s close to Poland, she would be able to escape if she needed to.”
Lidiia says many of her students and friends in her local Ukrainian community are “very scared” of what might happen.
“I believe Putin has put a lot of troops on the border to threaten Ukraine and show how powerful he is,” she says.
“The situation is very, very dangerous. Ukrainians are very patriotic and will defend their country, especially in the west. It’s only a very little percentage of people in the east who would want to be part of Russia.
“Russia has done a lot of horrible things to the Ukrainian nation and we have been suffering a lot. Now it’s happening again. It’s very distressing.”
'Very worrying'
Paul Iwanyckyj fears some of his younger relatives would be called up to fight if Russia invades.
The retired IT worker’s late father Michael fought against the Russians in the Second World War and came to the UK in 1946 as a political refugee.
Paul, 65, who lives in Doncaster, South Yorks, says: “All of the rest of my dad’s family remained in Ukraine.
“I have uncles and aunts and also 24 first cousins there, as my dad was the eldest of 12.”
He said many of his cousins had sons of military conscription age.
Of them being called up, he said: “It would be very worrying, I’ve been to their weddings and christenings.” Paul says his relatives, most of whom live around the city of Lviv, are “trying to get on with life.”
He adds: “They are very grateful for what the UK have done so far, and say there seems to be far more action than there seemed to be around Crimea in 2014.”
Paul says family members have noticed that shops and restaurants in Ukraine are less busy than usual.
He says: “They’ve told me that very few people are spending money on buying goods in the shops and are saving it instead. They just don’t know what’s around the corner and might need to have enough money to evacuate their families.”
'There’s a lot of uncertainty
The uncertainty of what might happen is causing a lot of concern for Yaroslaw Tymchyshyn, the Chair of the Bolton Branch of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain (AUGB).
“While my family live in western Ukraine so they are far away from the Russian border, I am still worried as I am not sure if any of my relatives are in the armed forces,” says Yaroslaw, 68.
“I haven’t heard from my cousin for a little while, and I’ve been wondering whether it’s because some of their family may be in the army and they don’t want me worrying about them.
“I am fearful that Putin might do something drastic to stay in power in Russia. There’s a lot of uncertainty.
“My biggest fear is that if there is a second Russian invasion we will have one of the biggest human catastrophes since World War Two.”
Yaroslaw says his friends in the Ukrainian community are feeling similar to himself. “They are fearful of what is going to happen,” he adds.
“I had one 88-year-old lady in church the other day crying on my shoulders because she is so scared of what is going on.”
The AUGB have since set up an emergency appeal to try and raise funds to buy essential items such as medicine and food for families in Ukraine. Since Thursday, they have already raised over £18,000 of their £50,000 target.
Yaroslaw adds: “Ukraine has already seen 14,000 soldiers killed and 1.4million people displaced from their homes since 2014.
“We are trying to appeal to our community friends to donate and help the millions of families in Ukraine facing hunger and violence.”
Yaroslaw’s father Nychajlo came to the UK from Ukraine as a displaced person after World War Two - and Yaroslaw says his dad brought him up as a “fierce Ukrainian defender”.
“My dad believed in a free Ukraine and it happened in 1991, 10 years before he passed away - it was probably one of the happiest periods of his life,” he says.
“Ukraine has been independent for over 30 years and the Ukrainian people won’t give up their independence easily. Any fighting that may happen would be bloody.”
'There is deep anxiety... it feels like anything can happen.'
Taras Semeniuk, 30, moved to the UK in 2009 with his mother Svitlana, 54.
The Leeds-based communications professional says he is “anxious, concerned and stressed” as several family members including his grandmother Valentyna, 73, and aunt Olena, 48, live near the south-eastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, which is about 200 miles away from where current fighting is taking place.
Taras has spoken to his family, who have started sorting out their important documents into one place in case war breaks out and they need to quickly leave their home.
“The problem is, they would have nowhere to go because they’ve lived in the Zaporizhzhia region all their lives and they don’t have family in other parts of the country,” Taras explains.
“I can’t bring my family over here - and they wouldn’t want to leave Ukraine as it’s their home.
“My mum also feels frustrated and that everything is uncertain, but she feels like she can’t help. We can’t risk going to Ukraine and being stuck there.”
At the moment, it’s not just the threat of invasion Taras’s family have to contend with, but rising prices of fuel and food.
“My family have said the prices of essential items have just been going up and up,” says Taras.
“My aunt says she will go to the shop one day and the next day the cost of items such as food will be higher. It’s adding a lot of extra pressure on people.”
Taras says at the moment, he is “constantly” checking the news for updates. “When I open social media I see friends and family posting the same things about a potential Russian invasion and air strikes,” he adds.
“There is a deep anxiety and it feels like anything can happen, but at the same time I am trying to keep calm as the situation is not something I can control.”
'Shocking and horrible'
Natalia Ravlyuk moved to London in 2000, and is very worried as parents Maria, 61, and Ivan, 65, and sister Nadia, 35, are still in Ukraine.
The 41-year-old regional manager says: “This uncertainty has left me feeling absolutely helpless.” Her family live in the west of Ukraine, but she says: “Regardless of them being further from the Russian border, it is still a bad situation.
“If Russia invaded, my mum and dad wouldn’t leave, there would be nowhere for them to go. They are worried and don’t know what to do.
“I hope diplomacy will do the job, but it’s very little hope. I feel very emotional.” Natalia has been protesting against Russian interference in Ukraine for eight years, and has also been involved in raising money for equipment for soldiers in the country during that time.
“War isn’t new in Ukraine because it’s been going on since 2014,” she says. “Myself and many of the others who have been out on the streets protesting since then have been saying that Putin has to be stopped now otherwise it will get worse.
“Now, eight years later we have this situation where World War Three could begin. We live in the 21st Century and Ukraine is geographically situated in the middle of Europe - how has this become possible?
“The world needs to say no to Putin. I am completely horrified at what the consequences could be. Ukraine could lose a lot of lives and there would be a humanitarian crisis.
“The situation is really shocking and horrible. Ukrainians would resist any military action, but nobody knows how it will end for our country - or for Europe.”
To help Ukraine, you can donate here.
