War in Ukraine: Fleeing was like a 'dreadful dream'

A mother who fled Ukraine with her eight-year-old daughter has described the past three weeks as like "living in a dreadful dream".

Olga and Sasha Samsonenko are among the millions of Ukrainian women and children to have left the country in the wake of the Russian invasion.

They are staying with Olga's sister, Olena, at her home in Port Talbot, after arriving in the UK this week.

"If I could, I'd still be in Ukraine", said Olga. "I came because of Sasha."

"I still feel like I am living in a dreadful dream. I never expected something like this would happen in the middle of Europe in the 21st Century".

When war broke out in late February, Olga and Sasha left their family home in Kyiv to head for her parents in the western city of Lviv. Once there, they carried on to the Polish border.

Sasha's father was forced to remain behind in Ukraine, after laws were introduced preventing men aged between 18 and 60 from leaving the country.

"We were awakened in the deep night. It was four o'clock, as I remember by the bomb sounds", said Olga.

"We didn't understand what was happening. No one expected a Russian invasion.

"I took Sasha and we packed in 15 minutes. It took three days to get [to Lviv] through all the checkpoints.

"We had half an hour to spend with my parents, then we took our luggage and we caught a bus from Lviv into Poland. It took about 50 hours because there were a lot of refugees trying to get into Poland."

After arriving in Poland, Olga set about trying to obtain a visa to come to the UK.

The process took about 10 days, with Olga and Sasha travelling first to Brescia in Italy, before driving back to Warsaw to collect their visas.

"It was hard to stay in Poland because more than two million Ukrainians have stayed in Poland. Poland is overloaded by Ukrainians", she said.

"I thought Polish didn't like Ukrainians, but I saw that wasn't so. They accepted us with open hearts. The Polish gave us meals, they gave us water. They asked if they could help us."

Olga said they had been thankful for the hospitality they have received since coming to Wales, but says she is keen to return to her home country as soon as possible.

"You are doing what you can and we are grateful for this," she said.

"I love the United Kingdom, but I never expected to come here as a refugee.

"I had two flats in Kyiv. I was entirely satisfied with my life. Now I am desperate, I suppose.

Olga's sister, Olena, said the willingness to help the Ukrainian people seen across the globe was of huge comfort to those fleeing the war, as well as those staying to fight in Ukraine.

"We have received huge support," Olena said, adding that refugees coming to the UK would require "huge moral support".

"When those people see that they are welcomed, they will see that life will continue.

"That will give to their fathers, brothers and sons the ability to stay in Ukraine and be strong and defend it, because they will know that their kids and mothers and wives are secure."

Olga remains confident that her country will prevail, and said she is hopeful of seeing an end to the war soon.

"I have Russian blood in me. My language is Russian. I never asked someone to come to Ukraine to release me. What from?

"We are not afraid of Russians. We will do everything, we will die. But we will never let Russians take our country."