Alina will never forget the words written in red block letters as she turned on the news one fateful February morning last year: "Putin started the war". As a journalist living in Kyiv, she had heard all the predictions that an invasion by Russian forces was imminent – but her brain didn't want to believe it, she says.
Now living with a 'beautiful' family in Altrincham, the 32-year-old recalls the awful conditions she endured for six months - sheltering in the cold corridors of her apartment block and in its damp basement - before moving to Greater Manchester last summer. One year on from Russian president Vladimir Putin invading Ukraine, her message to Greater Manchester is simple: "Thank you."
"It's important for us to understand that we are not alone," she said. "Ukrainians are very brave people, Ukrainians are very strong.
