Alex and Ivanna Malik’s car journey from their home in the devastated eastern Ukraine frontline to a sleepy Berkshire village took them through five countries. With their two children and the possessions they could fit loaded into the car, they traced a route through Moldova and over the snowy mountain passes of Romania, following a route picked out on Google Maps on their phones.
They first stopped in Germany. “We thought the war wouldn’t be too long, maybe a month or two,” says Ivanna. “But I don’t speak German, Alex doesn’t speak German,” so they decided to move on and, with the help of a British volunteer they found on Facebook, were offered a refuge by an “incredible” couple who had a little space to spare.
