AS the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters a third month, an increased number of refugees are fleeing to find a better life in Britain. One Westbury family, Richard and Angela Dalton, have spoken about their experience of welcoming a Ukrainian family into their home.
Dima (36), Yulia (33), and their daughters, Anika and Maya, arrived in Westbury in the week of the 9th May following their journey across the width of Europe and have settled into life in Westbury – a stark contrast from the warzone that was once their home.
The family travelled to escape the conflict and their home city of Mariupol has effectively been sealed off from the world following the city being under Russian control. The family were held in a Russian detention centre following their apartment being destroyed.
“Everything they once knew is now a pile of rubble – this is no exaggeration”, explained Richard Dalton who had taken the family in. “This family has witnessed unimaginable horrors, stuff we only see in films. I can’t go into much detail as it is too graphic, but the videos and pictures they’ve shown are truly horrific. Their apartment block was turned into dust by the Russians and as a result, they stayed in a temporary camp near the site – that’s when Russian troops picked them up on a ‘humanitarian mission’ and took them to a camp Kazan in Russia. They were stolen, not saved.”
Dima has family in central Russia so they were permitted to take the trip west, but they quickly realised the situation was not stable for Ukrainians and so the family got in contact with OPORA (the international organisation that helps resettle Ukrainians fleeing the war). At the same time, Richard and his wife Angela from Westbury were in contact with OPORA and had already joined the Homes for Ukrainians scheme by the UK government.
Dima, Yulia and their daughters travelled to Lithuania and then Poland (staying at different temporary refugee accommodations on the way) before being picked up and driven to the UK by the Trowbridge Homes for Ukrainians. The family were on the road for two months in total and covered a total distance of over 3,500 miles across Europe.
Yuila, who worked as a financer in a bank before the war said, “We feel we are the lucky ones; so many people have lost their lives or are still trapped. So many of our friends did not make it. We hear every day about more that did not make it out.
“We didn’t want to leave (Mariupol) at first, we were told, ‘No! You must leave now’ and we were sent away to Russia. Then they made it nearly impossible to leave the country, but blamed us (Ukrainians) for all their problems – they tell many lies about us.
“Many people say they miss their life back in Mariupol, but for many there is no home or life left there. We all must start over. We do really miss our friends and family; they’re all scattered across Europe including my sister, who is all the way in Finland now.”
Victims of geography
Richard spoke to the White Horse News about how he got in contact with Yulia and her family. He explained, “I follow the news closely and I’m a keen historian, so as soon as I saw troops building up around Ukraine as well as field hospitals, I knew things were about to escalate. When the invasion officially started, my wife Angela and I knew we had to do everything in our power to help these people who are simply just victims of where they live!
“We immediately joined the government’s ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme, but we saw a problem in pairing up the right families, as everyone has different needs. We had a few contacts on our side through Facebook of people that were willing to take families in, but everyone has different needs. We spoke to some families who were still living in their house in western Ukraine who were relatively comfortable in comparison to some stories we heard where people were fleeing for their lives.
“My wife Angela got in contact with a group called OPORA, set up by Ukrainians, who were in direct contact with those that really needed relocating.”
Richard says that he is still helping those in need by filtering families on OPORA through the relative Facebook groups in the UK, helping to match up families with empty rooms. He has connections with Trowbridge, Chippenham, Corsham and Melksham Homes for Ukraine organisations.
“There was no question other whether we could help; we’ve got a house that can take two families, so it was a no brainer – it was just finding out who needed help the most. We feel there is a big connection between this and rescuing kids from the Blitz in WW2, we’re doing our bit!
Richard added, “We think we’re in a modern society, but conflicts like this show that if you take away gas and electricity, internet and water, everyone is living the same as we did in WW2.”
Life in Westbury
The life of the family is now very different to what it was two months ago but they have endured and persevered throughout their ordeal, which Richard says is down to their strength of character. The family say they have felt welcomed by Westbury residents but added there was a small culture shock when they came to the town.
Yulia explained, “It feels very strange you know; we feel like we are in an old film all the time! So many old buildings with lots of history, but we really like it.
“My daughter was very scared to go to school at first, but after seeing it, she has changed her mind and is looking forward (to starting). People have been so friendly to us, so welcoming.”
Richard added, “We’re happy to put the family up indefinitely and we’re here to support them in any way we can. We take one day at a time and cherish the time we have – that’s something we’ve learned from our Ukrainian family, so a big thank you to them. First up on the agenda is taking them to Longleat Safari Park!
“We would have done this without the small funding from government; it’s irrelevant to us and we haven’t seen any of it anyway. However, not everyone can do what we’ve done as it does inflict a heavy cost with buying more furniture and things like that, so we would encourage any that can help to please get involved.”
