Ukrainian students

Available for over a year

We bring together three Ukrainian students, who studied at different universities in Kyiv before the war, to hear about how they are continuing their education. One decided the solution was to do her exchange year abroad early, but the others have remained in the country and it’s not always easy to study. “Mentally it’s really difficult,” says Tania Perednia, who is now at her family home in northern Ukraine. “For the first week, I was really apathetic. I couldn’t take in anything except for news and was really focussed on some basic things like getting water and food. My productivity is really low, however I’m quite optimistic.” According to the United Nations, more than 11 million people are believed to have fled their homes in Ukraine since the conflict began and of those more than five million have left the country. Many are women and children. Three Ukrainian women come together to share their stories of leaving their homes with young children. Single parent Sonia is now in Portugal with her daughter, after driving across multiple countries. Marharya is living in Switzerland with three children while her husband remains in Ukraine. Sonia has also remained in Ukraine but moved to a potentially safer area with her husband’s relatives and their daughter. They discuss love, family ties, guilt and being brave for your children. (Photo: Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at the Kharkiv National University building, which city officials said was damaged by shelling. Credit: Reuters/Oleksandr Lapshyn)