00:00Alina, thank you very much for joining us today. Now, can you explain firstly the difference
00:04between when you left Ukraine and what the situation is like now? And for context, this
00:09is actually a picture of your house shortly after you left Ukraine.
00:13Yes, this picture was taken by my biological father and this is my apartment. The bomb
00:22went straight into my flat. That's a miracle that my balcony didn't fall down. So, yes,
00:30currently I have no place to go to.
00:33How does it make you feel seeing that picture? And this video we're seeing now is from the
00:37area where you live, from a local journalist. How does it feel seeing this?
00:43I feel very sad about what's happening with my home and what's happening with Ukrainians
00:50who also had to leave their home behind them and start new lives. It's definitely very
00:59upsetting.
01:01And talking about starting that new life, you're now living here in Kent. What was that
01:05transition like, going from Ukraine to Kent?
01:09So, when war started, after three weeks, we decided to leave Ukraine and go to Moldova
01:16to my great-grandfather. He lives in Moldova. And when we came there, I asked myself, like,
01:25and what's next?
01:27We decided to go to Ireland first and start our life from scratch there. But due to some
01:37circumstances, like the housing was overflown in Ireland, so we couldn't move.
01:47And we decided to apply for a sponsorship visa in the UK. And my wonderful hosts decided
01:57to accept us. And they were very welcoming. And my adaptation and my mother's adaptation
02:04went well because they were very kind and warm. I just, I don't know, I'm very grateful
02:12to them until the end of my life.
02:15And of course, this is life-changing, not only for you, but we've heard throughout the
02:19past couple of years, for so many people leaving Ukraine, how their lives have changed so much.
02:25But I'm interested to know how your perspective of life has changed, going through a war and
02:31seeing somewhere you grew up like this.
02:35I went through the war when I was 13 years old as well, because I was living on east
02:42of Ukraine. And the war there started on 2014, when I was 13 years old, teenager. And it's
02:52impacted on my mental health, on my perspective on life. And I saw lots of stuff, which the
03:03teenager shouldn't see, shouldn't have seen. And I realized that it's very difficult to
03:12live, and it's important to live now.
03:15And it's incredibly brave and strong, everything that you're talking about now. We couldn't
03:19possibly imagine looking at our house and seeing a picture like this here in England,
03:24here in Kent in particular. So what's it been like? I'm really interested to know what your
03:28life's been like here in Kent. I've seen some videos of you kayaking, pictures with your
03:32boyfriend and your mum and your family. What's it been like in Kent? Do you like it?
03:38I really love it. And when I came here, I met my boyfriend, and he really helped me
03:44with adaptation in Kent. But currently, I'm experiencing the best of my life currently
03:52as a student at the University of Kent. Without any help of my boyfriend, university, and
04:00everything that I have in my life, I don't know what I would do because I have some mental
04:09health issues, and it's really hard for me to live my life without any support.
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