Sharing a bowl of homemade Ukrainian borscht with your neighbours is one way to make friends in a new country, according to the first refugee to arrive in the UK after Russia invaded her country three years ago.
From Hungary she flew to Paris under the EU’s Schengen agreement and because the hastily set up UK visa scheme for Ukrainians had not yet been finalised, she found herself crisscrossing the French capital between the UK’s visa processing centre, the embassy and the consulate, before finally getting a visa.
“I used to come to the UK for joyful reasons to visit Nataliya before the war started, but this time I was running away from my country and felt lost and overwhelmed,” says Klymova.
First Ukrainian refugee to arrive in UK after Russia invasion says even the British dogs are better behaved, but that ‘the weather is sad’.
“Mum knew I was keen for her to leave Ukraine before the war started, but I tempted her by booking her a spa holiday in the west of the country close to the Hungarian border so that she could get out quickly if necessary,” says Rumyantseva.
