Mykhailo left Kharkiv with his wife, Yuliia, and their two children in the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They left behind many families and friends, as well as their dog and parrot. A difficult and dangerous journey across the border into Moldova followed, before the long and arduous process of obtaining a visa for the United Kingdom began. Now, they begin to settle for life in Gwynedd. Read more: UK visa programs ‘create and increase’ marketing and exploitation risks. Mykhailo said: “We are a family from Kharkov – my wife is Yuliia, my son Myroslav is 15 years old and my son is Tymur three years old. An ordinary Ukrainian family – we worked, enjoyed life and loved to travel. On February 24, we were awakened by the sound of artillery. It was about five o’clock in the morning, we were very scared. The children were still asleep and we did not wake them up immediately but we started to pick things up quickly. “We took three backpacks with us, a stroller, a dog and went out on the street. We had to leave the parrot at home, we gave him a lot of food, a plate of water – in the hope that we would be back soon. But we did not return – we hope he could. to fly out into the street, because part of the windows of the apartment was later destroyed by a shock wave of shells that exploded near the house – they sent us photos of neighbors who decided to stay in Kharkov. “First of all, we drove to the train station hoping to board an evacuation train. But there was a huge crowd there, so we started looking for other solutions to get out of the city. At this time, the bombing of the city continued. , but away from us – Russian troops were advancing from Belgorod. “Fortunately, we found a bus going to Pavlograd, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, and the driver agreed to pick us up. We stopped in traffic jams on the road for about 4 hours, but still escaped from the city. Then we drove to Pavlograd and then to Dnypro, where we spent the night with relatives. “In the morning we went to Kremenchuk, in the Poltava region, to visit my parents, where we stayed for a few more days. The dog had to stay in Ukraine at the moment, because it was quite big and the road was difficult. Then we went to the border with in Moldova, we drove for three days on the path that usually took a day. We crossed the border and returned to Kremenchuk and took 3 more families to Poland. “Then I became a family in Moldova and we started to decide exactly where to go. We placed ads in groups to help the Ukrainians on Facebook and we were offered many options – mainly Spain, Sweden, France, Italy. At that time, the British Government “We had not yet started a program for the Ukrainians. We decided to go to Spain and we had already booked tickets for an evacuation flight from Romania to Paris, so that we could then reach Seville by train.” Mykhailo, Yuliia, Myroslav and Tymur left their home in Kharkov (Image: Mykhailo Voronkov) It was then that Mykhailo saw a message from Sarah Green from the Penygroes of North Wales. She invited the family to stay with her and her husband Nick. As Mykhailo speaks little English, he decided this was the best for his family. He said: “We really liked Sarah and Nick Green from Penygroes and it was also a great advantage that we speak little English. Generally, we decided to go to Wales. “We agreed in advance with a wonderful Frenchman Yves who lives near Paris that we could stay with him before processing the documents for the UK. We were sure it would take a few days, at most a week – we had biometrics, confirmation of our stay in Ukraine and other documents. “But this process took many days and weeks of waiting. After obtaining a visa on April 4, we arrived by free train in London and then in Bangor, where Sarah and Nick met. In fact, we became one of the first Ukrainians in these places, because many officials are just finding out all the points about the proper execution of documents. “ Speaking about his new home in North Wales, Mykhailo added: “We really like North Wales – wonderful nature, friendly people. In general, we feel welcome here and, most importantly, safe. Our sponsors – we do not like this We like friends more – Sarah and Nick did everything they could to make our stay here as comfortable as possible. support.” Mykhailo, Yuliia, Myroslav and Tymur before the Russian invasion of Ukraine (Image: Mykhailo Voronkov) Sarah and Nick lived alone in their home before welcoming Michael and his family in April. Nick, 46, is self-employed and Sarah, 51, works in caravan sales. They chose to help after being terrified by what they saw on the news. Sarah said: “The moment I opened my eyes was to watch the news before work to see what happened overnight. I saw an interview at a train station in Poland and they were talking to a group of ladies my age. returning to Ukraine from a girls ‘weekend in Barcelona I thought “I could be with my friends on a girls’ weekend” and since then I could not sleep and was constantly watching the news. “We did the usual thing everyone does. We sent money through the Red Cross. We would help a friend of mine load a truck to go to Poland, but we knew we had to go further than that. “Before anything from the government came, I was trying to get in touch with people. I found a global group offering housing to Ukrainian refugees and I saw this family. I sent them a private message telling them who we are and where we live. Within 15 minutes Michael had texted me and within hours we had all their passport details and a brief family history. “Then the UK government announced the ‘Houses for Ukrainians’ program and my husband took over, recorded us and put all our details. It was painful and took over four hours – and my husband is an IT expert. It was hard work and not at all easy. And then the pain started. “The UK government was so slow and so useless in getting information. Nick had to make four or five calls a day to get in touch with someone.” Nick said: “The system was not designed for a humanitarian crisis. I was constantly calling the Home Office, the local MP and the UKVI. And they still had 15 days until the travel documents reached Michael and Yuliia. “And this is not an isolated case. The problem is the same everywhere. The pain for us is one thing, but these guys are starting to feel that the UK does not want them. But we want them here. The process is emotional for families and emotional for the hosts “. Sarah added: “They are leaving the country they love and leaving behind family members and the government just does not seem to be taking any of that.” Mykhailo and his family took the Eurostar to London before continuing on to Bangor by train. Sarah recounts the moment she first saw them: “The train got on and I saw this family. Mom, Dad, teen and toddler in a stroller and had three backpacks and a carrying bag for their belongings. “And I thought, ‘This could be my son and my bride and my grandchildren.’ And that was all they had since they started going to the UK on March 14 – it was April 4 when they arrived.” The couple says they feel great responsibility and pressure to help the family rebuild their lives by navigating the bureaucracy and daily activities. They say they would like more help from the staff – a lot of support is provided by third sector organizations and the local community, who welcomed the family with open arms. This feeling was echoed by Tracie Shamby in Llanelli, who is hosting a Ukrainian mom and two children, aged 11 and 12. Tracie has room to take in a family as two of her children are missing from university. She lives with her 18-year-old daughter. Tracie, 49, works as a nurse manager with learning disabilities. He said: “I just think it’s our whole responsibility to support people in crisis. The process has been disastrous. First you sign up with the government and get an email to confirm it. And that’s where the support stops. “It relies on small local Facebook groups to get you in touch with people. I became a member of a South Wales group and a lady in that group really helped me in the process. She matched my family then and we did not stop chatting every day. since then. “It took a few weeks for the visas to arrive – I asked our MP to help move things forward. And then, of course, you arrange the transfer – you have to go to people to learn how to bring them here. “Tetiana and her children had gone from Ukraine to Poland to Bulgaria, to Germany, to the Netherlands. They were sick to the teeth of the train journey – but they had a whole day on the train after the Netherlands to Swansea, where I he picked them up from the train station. “ The whole process took more than a month. Tracie was shocked to discover that she had to look for a family to support herself, and that much of the process was left to her to resolve, without government assistance. When Tetiana and her children arrived, they were physically exhausted and unwell. Tracie said: “I think it was a complete exhaustion and relief. And since then we have not really stopped. I think I have become a thorn in the side of the board. We received the emergency money just two weeks after their arrival – and they arrived destitute. “I used to have…
