We meet a Ukrainian refugee living in Bridgnorth and ask how life has been and where she would like it to be in the future.
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00:00So here we have Elisabeth, a photographer. You fled here from Ukraine to the British North in June 2022.
00:07If you just want to introduce yourself, if you don't mind.
00:09Yeah, yeah. So I'm Elisabeth. I'm from Ukraine and I'm a photographer.
00:13I'm trying to settle down in England for three years, nearly three years now.
00:19So obviously we come to the anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, which was the 25th, 24th?
00:2624th, yeah.
00:2724th, yeah. That's right.
00:28It was obviously a very poignant time. It's another year that the war's been going on.
00:33I mean, how are the spirits at the moment?
00:36We're all tired. Everywhere. Doesn't matter where we are.
00:40Around the world we are all absolutely tired. We are naked.
00:44We don't have any stress anymore to do anything. That's it.
00:47We're disappointed about this world and we understood that we can't do anything about ourselves.
00:53We are not, how to say it, belong to ourselves anymore.
00:59Just like somebody decided our destiny is what we will do or what we won't do.
01:04We don't have any choice. We just need to survive because of the kids. That's it.
01:09So obviously a lot of Ukrainian refugees have settled into the West Midlands, Shropshire, around the UK.
01:15Everybody seems, from what I've seen so far, everybody seems like they're absolutely, under the circumstances, liking the surroundings.
01:23You yourself have taken up photography as well. How's that been going for you?
01:26Have you been settling in for the past three years quite well?
01:29Yeah, I'm trying to. So on the one hand, you know, my business is not so huge.
01:34I don't have enough clients for now.
01:36So what I'm doing, I'm studying in Wolverhampton College for photography to make my skills better
01:41and to have some papers and to understand how this business works exactly here in this country, not in mine, because it's totally different.
01:47And yeah, so from one hand, you've got some jobs that keep you going, you know, just like every month.
01:53And on the other hand, I'm trying to do my best as I can.
01:56Absolutely. So you've got two children yourself, a boy and a girl.
02:00Yes.
02:01How are they settling? Are they settling in quite well?
02:03My youngest one is absolutely happy. She is all right. She is a strong woman.
02:06She is absolutely a happy girl. But my oldest one is struggling a bit about the difference between mentality, I think.
02:14But I know that education in this country is much more better than in my country, unfortunately.
02:19Or I don't know, fortunately. It depends.
02:22So I want to stay here and I want a better future for my son.
02:25I want him to finish the schools here and go to college and, you know, start his life here like a citizenship in this country.
02:33Like a citizen.
02:35Yeah, absolutely. So obviously, citizenship, staying in the country, obviously, is a big issue at the moment with visas.
02:41Yes.
02:42I think you said before that it's a very uncertain time. I mean, how are you feeling about that?
02:48That we don't know where we will be in the next one year and a half.
02:52We really don't know. We really don't know what to do because, to be honest, to get a visa or work visa or something like this,
02:57you need to have education, you need to have cases, you need to have experience of work.
03:01And some of Ukraine has got this. It's OK. It's good. It's wonderful.
03:04But what about other Ukrainians who, like, 10 years before everyone else?
03:10And, you know, it's difficult. It's difficult because, first of all, it's expensive.
03:15Second of all, it puts a lot of anxiety issues on us because we don't know what to do.
03:20Do we need to pack now and build our future in another country?
03:23What we should do? Because we know that war won't be over.
03:26Are you hopeful for getting... Have you already applied?
03:29Because I think there... Is there an extension scheme that was put into place?
03:32Yeah, I'm not in the dates now, so I need to apply in June.
03:35Ah, OK, yeah.
03:36Yeah, so we're stuck here for all holidays, to be honest.
03:39Because while they will look at my visa, it will take eight weeks, as I know.
03:44So it's all holidays, exactly. So we're just stuck in England.
03:49So, I mean, like, it is a hard question with the visas and whatnot.
03:53Yes.
03:54And it is a sort of... It is a sort of talk about the future question.
03:59Would you be looking forward to potentially returning back to Ukraine,
04:03taking what you've learnt back over there?
04:07Are you looking forward to potentially going back home in the future?
04:10I can't. Just because I've got a son.
04:12And if war will be over, and this situation will happen in the next eight years,
04:16I need to protect him.
04:17I need him to come and say, I've got a passport for another country,
04:21I shouldn't go to this war, it's not my war.
04:23I don't want to go.
04:24So, this is my mission, why I'm here.
04:26I just need to get the passports and stay here for my son to protect him in the future.
04:31Absolutely.
04:32So is that what you're looking forward to?
04:34What you're looking to do in the future is developing on yourself, developing on your children?
04:38Yes, that's why I'm going for education, that I'm trying to do as much as I can,
04:42that I'm trying and trying and trying to do my best to protect them.
04:45It's mentally very, very hard, to be honest.
04:49Absolutely.
04:50And with this weather, I'm so sorry, but it was the most difficult winter for all these three years.
04:55And I'm just like, where's the sun?
04:57We do have horrible weather in the UK.
04:59Everybody knows that we do have horrible weather.
05:01We didn't know it before.
05:03If you can, do you stay in touch with your family and friends who have remained in Ukraine?
05:09I mean, are they keeping spirits, if you ask me?
05:12So, my whole family is around the world.
05:14My sister in Poland, another sister in Italy, my brother in Italy,
05:18my dad is in USA, my stepdad in Moldova,
05:21and only my mom stayed in Ukraine just because she's got the dogs and a flat.
05:26Because properties, I mean, spent for the properties more than 20 years to buy it,
05:31to pay, to make all the works inside, to grow the kids here and just left it.
05:36It's difficult for her.
05:37So, yeah, it's difficult because my stepdad got problems now, health issue, a lot of health issue.
05:42And if something will happen to my mom, then he will know about it.
05:45So, my sister will lose both parents.
05:48And are you part of, I'm assuming that you're part of some of the Ukrainian societies
05:53that have been set up around the West Midlands, are you?
05:55Yeah, like part.
05:58They do a lot, to be honest, they do a lot.
06:01This government and people here and Ukrainians in big cities doing a lot for us.
06:05They providing a lot of free events for kids, not only for kids, workshops or whatever,
06:12you know, just like dancing, yoga.
06:14But it's all in the big cities, so it's like Shrewsbury, there is a lot of things.
06:18And yes, we're going every Saturday for Shrewsbury to, for workshops or something like this.
06:23But I'm not, I'm like, I've got maybe a couple of friends and that's it for now.
06:27I don't have a lot of energy for now.
06:29I'm just trying to keep it, to talk or something like this.
06:33We're all just, just down.
06:35Is that the general feeling?
06:39Because there is war in our country, there is inner war for each of everyone else in the world.
06:45To stay, to prove that we are people, that we are good,
06:49that we can do something good in these countries.
06:51All the time you need to prove, prove, prove.
06:54It's exhausting.
06:56But we're okay, okay, we'll be here.
06:58In any way, people are kind, people are kind around here
07:01and we are very grateful for the opportunity to be here.
07:05I think that's a good thing, that people are caring around you.
07:08I mean, in the past three years,
07:10has the general reaction from the population been quite positive?
07:15It's quite supportive.
07:17Yes, I mean, the hosts for everyone of us, it's become like parents.
07:22They really teach us everything.
07:24They took us, they gave us safe spaces,
07:27they provide to us new life, they explain how it works,
07:30it's all in this world.
07:32Yeah, people are kind, people are trying to help in any way.
07:35I mean, humanity still got hearts, yes?
07:39Not everyone like Putin, I'm sorry.
07:42Fantastic, but obviously, again, tired.
07:46Yeah, very tired.