'Everything is really perfect except that I'm not at home.'
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.
The city centre smells like petrol, she told the press briefing, because of the generators which are powering businesses in lieu of electricity. The traffic lights do not work in the evenings either for the same reason, she explained. "We saw all the explosions, all of the fires outside of our window," she said, speaking in Ukrainian at the press conference. Alina, who translated for her, explained that Liudmyla's 91-year-old father-in-law lived nearby in Kupiansk.
Representing the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain, Bohdan Ratych also shared his gratitude to Greater Manchester and the UK government. He urged the country to continue supporting the fight for freedom in Ukraine.
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