Ukrainians in UK make desperate calls to loved ones back home

Ukrainians in UK make desperate calls to loved ones back home… but hear NOTHING as phone lines and internet are down following Russian invasion

  • Phone lines and internet connections said to be down in cities such as Kharkiv
  • The eastern city, near to border with Russia, came under heavy fire this morning 
  • It comes after Vladimir Putin ordered troops over the border into Ukraine today
  • Ukrainians living in UK have raised fears for loved ones in their home country
  • Others have vowed to fly out to Ukraine to help repel Russia from its territory

Ukrainians in the UK have today revealed fears for their family members in their home country after being unable to reach them following Russia’s invasion.

Phone lines and internet connections are said to be down in some areas, including in the eastern city of Kharkiv – which has seen some of the worst fighting since Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered troops over the border.

Ukrainians living in the UK say they have been desperately trying to contact loved ones in the eastern European country, but have so far been unable to reach them.

One devastated grandmother says she is ‘haunted’ by ‘horror thoughts’ at not being able to contact family in Ukraine.

Another, a mother-of-two, said her husband was stuck in Kiev this morning and heard the sound of exploding missiles.

It comes as Ukrainian troops continue to fight Russian forces in a number of locations, including near to the former nuclear power plant Chernobyl.

Meanwhile Kiev has ordered civilians to bomb shelters and declared a curfew amid fears Russia is about to strike the Ukrainian capital.

There is also fighting going on in Kharkiv, in the east, and southern Ukraine, where Russian troops are said to have moved north from annexed Crimea.

Safe in Lenton, Nottinghamshire, is Ukrainian Olena Berezhnyi, 56, who fears for the safety of her family members back in her home country.  

Safe in Lenton, Nottinghamshire, is Ukrainian Olena Berezhnyi, 56, who fears for the safety of her family members back in her home country

Ukrainians living in the UK say they have desperately tried to contact loved ones still in the eastern European country, but have been unable to reach them. Pictured: Olena Berezhnyi’s family in Ukraine


Oksana Mudriyk (pictured left), 44, who lives in Fulham with her two children says her husband Alex is currently stuck in Kyiv after returning to Ukraine for a family matter. ‘It’s a scary, shocking, heartbreaking, devastating tragedy,’ she told MyLondon.  Yaroslav Taranenko (pictured right), 40, has lived in London for over five years and has family in the south of Ukraine. He told MyLondon: ‘The first thing I did was quickly check on my family and friends,’ he said. ‘They are all safe for now.’

It comes as Ukrainian troops are this afternoon fighting Russian forces for control of the Chernobyl exclusion zone, 60 miles north of the capital Kiev, amid fears the battle could damage storage facilities holding nuclear waste sparking a fallout that could blanket Europe. Pictured: A woman walks past the debris in the aftermath of Russian shelling, in Mariupol, Ukraine

There is also fighting going on in Kharkiv, in the east, and southern Ukraine, where Russian troops are said to have moved north from annexed Crimea. Pictured: Ukrainian servicemen sit atop armored personnel carriers driving on a road in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine

Ms Berezhnyi said she ‘barely stay calm’ thinking her children might have not survived the invasion, which began early this morning. 

Her two sons and their families, including a six-year-old granddaughter, live in Derhachi, a small city in Kharkiv province, less than 40kilometres from the Russian border.

She has been trying to get in contact with them this morning February, but has had no success.

Ms Berezhnyi said: ‘I do not know if they are still alive – I do not know what happened to them. I am just hoping that they managed to escape.’

UKRAINE LATEST 

  • Global markets tanked with Russia’s ruble sliding to its lowest value ever
  • The price of oil shot up to over $100 per barrel
  • EU will freeze Russian assets, halt access to financial market and target ‘Kremlin interests’
  • G7 called Putin a ‘threat to global order’ vowing ‘severe and coordinated economic and financial sanctions’
  • Joe Biden is set to address the nation at 12.30pm Washington time
  • Boris Johnson called the invasion a ‘catastrophe for our continent’ and branded Putin a ‘dictator’ 
  • China repeated calls for talks but refusing to criticize Russia’s attack 
  • Moldova declared a state of emergency
  • Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said invasion is ‘heavy blow’ to regional peace
  • NATO ambassadors scheduled an emergency meeting on Thursday 
  • UN Security Council will discuss a resolution condemning the invasion
  • Ukraine demanded the world banish Russia from SWIFT banking system 

The cleaner said the last time she spoke to her 24-year-old son was yesterday morning

Ms Berezhnyi added: ‘They told me that they are ready to fight – they are ready to do it for Ukraine.

‘And now I am just scared and I can barely keep calm.’

Ms Berezhnyi came to Nottingham from Kharkiv in 2004 to care for her grandfather, who had cancer. 

Ms Berezhnyi said: ‘I was in shock when I saw my hometown Kharkiv.

‘I was sleeping when all that happened – and now I do not know where my children are. 

‘I am stressed but I know I have to remain calm and keep working here because I have to make more money to send them to Ukraine and help my country.’   

Meanwhile, Oksana Mudriyk, 44, who lives in Fulham with her two children says her husband Alex is currently stuck in Kyiv after returning to Ukraine for a family matter.

‘It’s a scary, shocking, heartbreaking, devastating tragedy,’ she told MyLondon.

‘My husband was woken up this morning by the missiles in Kyiv. Everybody could hear the bombing.’ 

She added: ‘Obviously there is some emotional panic, but also anger and an understanding that we need to fight and defend our land because no one can do this for us.’ 

Yaroslav Taranenko, 40, has lived in London for over five years and has family in the south of Ukraine. He told MyLondon: ‘The first thing I did was quickly check on my family and friends,’ he said. ‘They are all safe for now.’

Voicing his concerns that war in Ukraine would affect his ability to communicate with his family, he added: ‘I’m in contact with them through my mobile, but I’m very worried in case there are going to be issues with mobile coverage. Then I have no means of contacting them.’

It comes as Ukrainians living in the UK say they are planning to return home to defend their country from Russia.  

Flights are impossible so many are jetting to the nearest airport to the country before attempting to drive in across the borders.

Marta Mulyak, 39, the head of the London branch of Plast National Scout Organisation of Ukraine, told MailOnline: ‘I have been up since 4am today, I woke up and felt anxious and then I saw the news and saw why.

‘Some of my friends have said they will return to try and defend the country. They are not military people, the love for the country for Ukrainians is above all and they want to protect our country.

‘The people that are trying to get over to Ukraine they are not sure how they will get there. I guess the only way is to drive from the closest airport.

Marta Mulyak, 39, said some Ukrainians in the UK were planning to return home to help


Petro Chymera, 32, and Olesya Khromeychuk, 38, said their prayers were with Ukraine 

Ela Czuruk from the Ukraine outside the Russian Embassy. Russians and Ukrainians unite in protest outside the Russian Embassy in London over Putins attack on the Ukraine

Members of the Orthodox Church attend a demonstration outside Downing Street in support of Ukraine

People hold a banner and Ukrainian flags as they attend a demonstration in support of Ukraine, outside Downing Street

‘Right now our main push is to co-ordinate out actions across the world. We believe in our regular army.

‘There are a lot of people over there who have also joined local forces.

‘We have been warning about Russia for eight years. If Russia isn’t stopped now it will go further than Ukraine. Unfortunately history seems to be repeating itself.

‘I am afraid if action is not taken now there will be consequences for the whole world.’

Wolodymyr Pawluk, 58, chair of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain, told The Guardian some military veterans living in Britain were thinking of going back.

He said: ‘In London, I can only say a handful have said that they will go back.

People attend a pro-Ukrainian demonstration on Whitehall, near Downing Street, earlier today

Two banners criticising the response to Russia were also held at Downing Street protest

Protesters gather during a rally against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in front of the Russian Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden

An explosion lights up the night sky over Kiev in the early hours of Thursday, as Russia launched an all-out attack on Ukraine from north, south and east with bombs, cruise missiles and rockets raining from the skies

A huge explosion is seen at Vinnytsia military base, in central Ukraine, as the country comes under all-out attack by Russia

The attack has come to Ukraine on all fronts, with bombs and missiles striking targets across the country, ground forces rolling in from Belarus, Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk, and paratroopers dropping on Kharkiv

‘There are many more that I’ve also heard will go, although I don’t know them personally.’

Olesya Khromeychuk, 38, said: ‘Just imagining what sort of bloodshed this is likely to cause is awful. I lost my brother, who was serving in the Ukrainian armed forces, at the frontline in 2017. Volodya was 42 when he was killed by shrapnel in the Luhansk region. He lived in western Europe but moved back to join up.’

Head of the Ukrainian Youth Association in Bradford Petro Chymera, 32, said some members of the local community were preparing contingency plans to help relatives in east Ukraine seek refuge in Western Europe and the UK.

‘Hundreds’ of Ukrainian troops were killed in early clashes this morning.

A Stop Putin protest is also due to start at Downing Street at midday today after action yesterday outside the Russian embassy. 

Official figures put the death toll at 40, with ‘dozens’ wounded.

Cruise missiles, guided bombs and GRAD rockets took out targets from east to west – aimed at airfields, military bases, ammo dumps, and command posts including in the capital.

Six Russian jets were shot out of the sky over the eastern Donbass region with 50 Russian troops killed, Ukraine claimed, before Moscow boasted of taking full control of the skies.

Ukrainian border guards said they had come under attack by heavy artillery, tanks and troops from Russia and Belarus as Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko threw his forces into the fight – though he denied taking part.

Hundreds of people have already demonstrated against Russia’s aggression against Ukraine outside the Russian embassy in London last night.

They held banner reading ‘Putin hands off Ukraine’, ‘Putin kills’ and ‘Ukraine will never surrender’ outside the embassy in Kensington.

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