Ukrainian refugees spending second Christmas in UK share hopes for 2024
Anna Tysovska said she was ‘shocked’ to be spending a second festive period in the UK.
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Your support makes all the difference.Ukrainian refugees have expressed their shock at spending their second Christmas in the UK and shared their hopes for 2024, including overcoming the trauma of war and building better lives for their children.
Earlier this year, Ukraine officially changed the day it celebrates Christmas from the Orthodox Church date of January 7 – as is traditional in Russia – to December 25, in a government move designed to distance themselves from their invaders.
Ukrainians living in the UK have said the move makes “complete sense” and will match their government’s plans, while others said they plan to have two celebrations.
Anna Tysovska, 33, arrived in the UK on April 1 2022 with her aunt and cousin from Kyiv – staying with a host family in Cornwall before moving to their own home in London in August 2023.
“It feels so natural and, like, the right thing to do,” Ms Tysovska told the PA news agency ahead of their new celebration.
“But, I also know that a lot of people in Ukraine will still celebrate on January 7 just because it was how they used to do it.”
Ms Tysovska said she feels “shocked” to spend another Christmas in the UK and “guilty” thinking about her family back in her war-torn home country.
“I also feel slightly guilty because my dad is far away,” she added.
“People in Ukraine, they don’t have plans.
“Life is going on because people need to continue with their lives because it’s too long of a period to stop everything, but they’re not living the lives they used to be.
“One day, I was talking to my dad and he said, ‘we just had an explosion 10km away’.”
She added it feels “painful” to think Ukrainians may be “forgotten” as the war continues.
Ms Tysovska said she and her family will have a Christmas dinner on December 24 and a full celebration on December 25.
As per Ukrainian tradition, their meal will consist of 12 dishes including a dumpling with a coin hidden inside.
“My favourite celebration is to have dumplings, which we cook, and put a coin inside one of them and whoever gets it will be happy the whole year,” she said.
“It’s exciting, but also people get nervous because they might break their teeth.”
Ms Tysovska hopes to use her time in the UK as an opportunity to pursue a psychology degree so she can help fellow Ukrainians with the trauma of the last two years.
“I just finished my Master’s degree in psychology and I want to find some work in this field and maybe apply for a PhD,” she said.
“When the war ends, people will be traumatised and I don’t think we understand now what that trauma will look like.
“So far, I know the trauma is horrible and we are a completely traumatised nation.
“I want to contribute somehow to Ukraine and bring something good from the British system to Ukraine.”
Yuliia Ruban and her son, Daniil, who is now eight, came to the UK on April 6 2022 from Melitopol in south-eastern Ukraine and stayed with Dr Poppy Gibson, a senior lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University, and her family in Benfleet, Essex.
Ms Ruban and her son then moved in with a different host family in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, in October 2022.
The 30-year-old, who works as a sales consultant in a heating department at Lower Barn Farm, told PA she plans on having two festive celebrations.
“(On December 25), we will celebrate with our British family who is sponsoring us,” she said.
“Ukrainian Christmas is celebrated on January 7 and we have traditional dishes.
“The most important dish is a Kutia – porridge made from whole wheat grains with the addition of honey, sometimes with dried fruits, nuts, and poppy seeds.
“We have lots of Ukrainian friends here and I’m looking forward to visiting these friends, sing Christmas carols and enjoy these Ukrainian dishes.”
Since living in the UK, she said life has “changed 360 degrees”.
“I was looking for a job for up to five months to find a position that would suit me and when it was time to move out we were struggling with rent as I didn’t have six payslips,” she said.
“But we were blessed as a week before we would become homeless again, we had an offer from another family who offered us accommodation.
“Daniil came here without speaking any English and the Gibson family really helped him to integrate into society.
“I don’t really know how he feels because he’s not talking about trauma, but he had to leave everything behind – he left his room, his toys, his father, his grandparents and his life.”
Daniil told PA: “I play a lot of sports: swimming, tennis and judo; and I go to the best school and the school does a lot for me.”
As for her hopes for 2024, Ms Ruban said: “The biggest hope for next year is to know that the programme for Ukrainians will be continued and we will be able to build our lives here in the future.”
A National Audit Office (NAO) report in October found 131,000 Ukrainians had to come to the UK under the Homes for Ukraine scheme between March 18 2022 and August 28 2023, but questions remain over its long term Government funding and whether initial three-year visas for those involved will be extended.