Thirty-five days. That was all it took for the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv to fall.
Halyna Wolverson remembers packing her whole life into one suitcase and fleeing just 24 hours before the Russian army entered the city.
She had spent the previous five days in a basement as the place was bombarded. “Five days in a bomb shelter without knowing what is going on, how it is going to be, is quite scary,” she said at Lincoln’s Ukrainian Culture Centre this week.
Ukrainian refugees living across our region have recalled their heart break at having to flee their homeland as the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion passes. Dozens of Ukrainians have now found sanctuary here and made Lincoln their home.
They marked the anniversary at the cultural centre at St Catherine’s Church, Southside.
Set up at the start of the war, it is dedicated to provide support for Ukrainian residents living in Lincoln.
“Ukrainian people here know they have somewhere to go. It is a safe, welcoming space and they can share their problems form friendships and strengthen friendships,” said Chair of the committee Irene Astbury.
The centre provides workshop opportunities such as conversational English lessons as well as maths and science. It is funded by the Lincoln Community Foundation which means the centre can hold events like the Ukrainian Independence Day, which took place in August of last year.
Halyna was one of the first Ukrainian families to settle in Lincoln and helped to get the centre up and running.
She said: “Here we have a smaller community, but it doesn’t matter. When we are at events, we can share ourselves, our words.”
“It makes you feel like you are not alone in this world.”
Another member of the centre is Iryna Sokor who fled the port city of Odesa with her daughter. She now lives with host Alistair Ede who she met through Facebook when she was in Bulgaria.
She said: “When you’re leaving behind your whole life it is like an open door, it is really heart breaking.”
Although Iryna is happy in Lincoln, she says there is still a shared desire to go home. “We are all from Ukraine and proud of what we have gone through and all of us try to start building our lives here, even though we desperately want to go home.”
She added: “Even though I lost everything (Ukraine) is a part of me I cannot not go back there, it is a part of my soul.”
The Ukrainian Cultural Centre holds meetings at the St Mary le Wigford church at 12pm-2pm in the centre of Lincoln, on the first Sunday of every month.
Through difficult times the centre provides hope for Ukrainian’s and a reminder of what once and still is, their home.
