'That pain never goes away': Ukrainians in RBWM remember four years of war

“My country is always in my thoughts. Of course, it still worries me. When your family, your friends, your home are under constant threat, you can’t switch that off.”

- Viktoriia Lahodynska, Ukrainian refugee living in Maidenhead.  

Four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the war remains a daily reality for those people who stayed and those who had to leave. 

Millions of Ukrainians have been displaced, as villages, towns and cities have been reduced to rubble and families torn apart. Around 275,000 refugees have sought safety in the United Kingdom.

Three Ukrainians living in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead have reflected on the four-year anniversary - and on the conflict that continues to shape their lives.

'Life has changed completely'

Ivanna (R) and sister Vasylyna

Ivanna Babii, 30, from Ivano-Frankivsk in Western Ukraine, lives with a host family in Windsor along with her younger sister Vasylyna. She works in retail while her sister is studying English and works in hospitality. 

“We support each other through everything, and that makes a big difference,” Ivanna, 30, said.  

“Having each other here gives us strength.”

Ivanna moved to the UK in the first year of the war but still thinks about it ‘every day’. She has relatives fighting in the Ukrainian military, as well as friends who joined the army to defend their homeland.  

“I’ve lost friends, and that pain never goes away,” she said. “Every news story about Ukraine feels deeply personal.”

Four cold winters have passed since the war began; drone strikes on power plants cause long blackouts, missile strikes on apartment buildings have become an everyday occurrence.

Ivanna still has family and friends living in Ukraine, but said it is hard to imagine a future for them that could look like what was before the war.

“Life has changed completely,” Ivanna said. “Sleep, safety, planning for the future - nothing is guaranteed anymore.

“Winter is especially hard; cold, snow, often no electricity, limited access to necessities.

“My family and friends have become stronger, but also very tired.

“Life won’t be like it was before, but I believe they can have a safe and stable life again.”

‘Even when I’m physically safe, part of my heart is always there’

Viktoriia, Bodhan and Elizabeth

When the full-scale invasion happened, Viktoriia Lahodynska and her family quickly found their home city Kyiv was on the front line.

She and her two children Bohdan and Elizabeth managed to escape as the Russian Army tried to surround the city. But her husband Alexander stayed behind and, in the years since, has remained in Ukraine helping the military.

Viktoriia, 35, who is now living in Maidenhead, said: “My country is always in my thoughts. Of course, it still worries me.

“When your family, your friends, your home are under constant threat, you can’t switch that off.

“Even when I’m physically safe, part of my heart is always there, listening for news, checking messages, hoping everyone is okay.

“I’m on a call every morning with my sister and my parents - it’s the first thing we do each day, just to make sure everyone is safe.

“That routine has become part of our survival.”

Viktoriia works as a dog walker, and said the war was ‘part of my daily conversations’ as people often ask her what is happening in Ukraine ‘beyond the headlines’.

“I hope 2026 could bring real peace, but it has to be just and lasting peace, not simply a pause in fighting,” she said.

“Ukrainians have paid too high a price for something fragile or temporary.”

‘Life will never be the same after the war’

Svitlana Tsenenko

Svitlana Tsenenko, 44, is from Odessa, a Ukrainian city on the Black Sea coast. She left the country with her young daughter and moved to Maidenhead almost four years ago, following Russia's invasion.

She said she reads the news about Ukraine and the war every day, and often speaks to friends who still live there.

“Pretty much all the time, it’s on my mind,” Svitlana added.

There was hope for peace ‘as soon as possible’, but Svitlana said that she worries the ‘limbo’ state of peace negotiations could last this year and into 2027.

She said she did not think the threats from Russia would stop, and so Ukraine would have to maintain its military.

Asked whether she felt life could ever return to how it was before the war for her and her family, she said it ‘will never be the same’.

She added: “I do hope that life will become peaceful… but I foresee [a] very tough next 10 years with a lot of changes to be made in Ukraine after [the] war.”