‘I DIDN’T steal anyone’: ‘Homewrecking’ Ukrainian refugee, 22, who ran off with British man, 29, just 10 days after he and his girlfriend took her in insists their relationship is ‘real and wonderful’
- Tony Garnett and his wife Lorna took in Sofiia Karkadym at the start of May
- Sofiia, 22, and Tony, 29, fell in love despite his 10-year relationship with Lorna
- She again denied stealing a taken man and said their relationship was ‘real’
- She said it was a ‘conscious and considered decision of a 29-year-old man’
- The press also came under her attack for trying to be as ‘dramatic as possible’
A Ukrainian refugee who ran away with her taken UK sponsor while staying with his family has again defended her actions, saying that she ‘didn’t steal anyone’ and that their relationship is ‘real and wonderful’.
Sofiia Karkadym, 22, fled Lviv and moved in with Tony Garnett, 29, his wife Lorna and their two children in Bradford at the start of May.
But Mr Garnett quickly fell for his new guest and left his partner for her after just ten days, moving with her into his parents’ home.
Mr Garnett said he has fallen in love with Miss Karkadym and wants to spend the rest of his life with her.
In a post to her Instagram page, Miss Karkadym laid out what she took to be a few facts of the matter.
On Mr Garnett leaving his wife, she it was the ‘conscious and considered decision of a 29-year-old man who has the right to fall in love.’
She again denied that she ‘stole’ anyone and attacked the press coverage of the story which was ‘clearly exaggerated and written in such a way as to be as dramatic as possible.’
‘Finally, I decided to write a post about world-famous recent events,’ the Ukrainian IT manager wrote.
‘The first thing I want to say is that I did not steal anyone from the family. It was his conscious and considered decision, the decision of a 29-year-old man who has the right to fall in love, has the right to be happy and has the right to choose who to be with.’
In a post to her Instagram page detailing her latest thoughts, Miss Karkadym accompanied it with a picture of her kissing Tony Garnett on the cheek with the London Eye and River Thames behind them on a trip to London from Bradford
‘The second thing I want to cover is the concept of the ‘yellow press’. Do you really think that someone can be abducted from a happy family in 10 days?
‘Why so much attention to my story, if it is clearly exaggerated and written in such a way as to be as dramatic as possible?
‘Anthony and I are fine.
‘Therefore, those who supported me from the very beginning and knew that behind any of my actions there is something real and wonderful – thank you. The rest – you will be disappointed in your judgements ;)’
Tony Garnett, 29, said he has fallen in love with his family’s guest, 22-year-old refugee Sofiia Karkadym, who admitted she ‘fancied’ her host as soon as she saw him
Jilted mother Lorna Garnett (pictured with ex-partner Tony) shared her anger after she let the Ukrainian woman into her home
Miss Karkadym had previously insisted she was not to blame for the breakdown of her sponsors’ relationship, telling The Sun: ‘That never crossed my mind. I liked the family. I spent a lot of time with Lorna and I tried to help her. But she was two-faced.
‘Her constant suspicions, the tension, it just pushed me and Tony closer together.
‘She created this situation by constantly suggesting something was going on when it wasn’t. So this is her fault.’
Jilted mother Lorna Garnett said she was left heartbroken after her husband decided to leave her for their guest.
Speaking to the Sun on Sunday, Mrs Garnett said she believes Miss Karkadym ‘set her sights on Anthony from the start, decided she wanted him and she took him’.
She added: ‘She didn’t care about the devastation that was left behind. Everything I knew has been turned on its head in the space of two weeks.’
Mrs Garnett told the newspaper she had reservations about the scheme but felt it was the right thing to do after seeing the ‘terrifying’ situation in Ukraine on the news.
Sofiia Karkadym (pictured) arrived in the UK at the start of May after fleeing the war in Ukraine
She said: ‘I decided it was the right thing to do to put a roof over someone’s head and help them when they were in desperate need.
‘And this is how Sofiia has repaid me for giving her a home.’
The family had taken Miss Karkadym in in an effort to do their bit to help Ukrainian’s fleeing the Russian invasion, with Tony telling The Sun he ‘wanted to do the right thing’ and that she was the first person to get in touch on a Facebook page where he offered to house a refugee under the Government’s scheme.
Miss Karkadym, who works as an IT manager, flew into Manchester on May 4 after waiting for weeks in Berlin for her UK visa to be approved.
Mr Garnett said he and his guest quickly developed a connection, and while his six-year-old and three-year-old daughters also took a liking to her, his partner of 10 years did not.
Just 10 days after moving in with the Garnett family, Sofiia (pictured) and lover Tony moved out
Sofiia, who is an IT manager, fled the western Ukrainian city of Lviv to escape the war. Pictured: are refugees waiting to board a train at the main railway station in the city of Lviv in February
Mr Garnett, who speaks Slovakian, would talk with his future lover while she spoke Ukrainian, as the two languages are mutually intelligible.
However, this left his wife not understanding what they were talking about.
‘We were getting on brilliantly but at that time it was no more than that — although I can see why Lorna started to feel jealous and resentful of her,’ Mr Garnett said.
As the days passed Miss Karkadym would join Mr Garnett at the gym and they would talk in his car, while at home they grew physically closer.
‘At home I realised we were finding excuses to touch and brush against each other, it was very flirtatious but nothing more than that happened at that stage,’ he said.
‘Although it was fairly innocent it was causing arguments. I can understand that. When I got in at night Sofiia would be the one who had made a meal for me to try.’
Sofiia Karkadym said she ‘fancied’ Tony as soon as she saw him and they are living their own ‘love story’
The IT manager (pictured) moved in with Mr Garnett and his parents while they find their own place
As the pair got closer and closer, his wife became ‘very jealous’ Mr Garnett says, and began to question why Miss Karkadym was following him around all the time.
‘The atmosphere was getting really bad and Sofiia told me she didn’t know whether she could continue to live with us under these circumstances,’ he said.
‘Lorna was never that enthusiastic about having a refugee in our home because it meant the girls had to move into one room.’
Things came to a head after an explosive row between the women left Miss Karkadym in tears and saying she no longer felt like she could live in the same house.
Mr Garnett said ‘something inside me clicked’ and he told his wife ‘If she’s going, I’m going’.
The pair then packed their bags and moved in with his mother and father, although they are looking at properties to move into.
After their relationship of 10 years ended in the space of just 10 days, Tony says he feels bad and that Lorna is not to blame.
‘I am so sorry for what Lorna is going through, this was not her fault and it was not about anything she did wrong.
‘We never set out to do this, it wasn’t planned and we didn’t mean to hurt anyone.’
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