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Ukrainians share their hopes and fears on the war

Lisa Young
BBC News
BBC Natalia Baker is looking at the camera with her head slightly angled. She is sitting outside in a park that has pathways and planting. She has shoulder-length blonde and brown hair and is wearing glasses. She is wearing a black coat over a navy jacket with a white shirt underneath. BBC
Natalia Baker said she would love to see victory for Ukraine that could be celebrated in Liberation Square

Three Ukrainian women with links to the Channel Islands have shared their hopes and fears after recent discussions about trying to end the ongoing war with Russia.

By April 2022 Jersey had welcomed 14 Ukrainian refugees and by March 2023 Guernsey had housed 24 Ukrainians.

There were unprecedented scenes in the White House last Friday when Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky clashed with Donald Trump and JD Vance in front of the world's media.

After the meeting Zelensky was ordered to leave the White House before flying to London where he received a strong show of support from European leaders who are at a Brussels summit to discuss future support for Ukraine.

'He has a heart'

Natalia Baker, born in Odessa and now living in Jersey, said she would love to see victory for Ukraine and celebrate it in Liberation Square "like how we celebrate the Liberation in Jersey".

While she lives in Jersey, Mrs Baker's family are still in Ukraine.

She said: "We are losing - every day - children, fathers, brothers and mothers so this is tough for us."

Mrs Baker said she believes a ceasefire and peace agreement need to be put in place.

"It doesn't matter that President Zelensky doesn't have a suit - he has a heart," she added.

Valeryia Sarnovska Valeryia Sarnovska is looking directly at the camera. She is wearing a black hoodie with the hood pulled up and is standing outdoors with a building and some bushes behind her.Valeryia Sarnovska
Valeryia Sarnovska has returned to Kyiv where she says she hears sirens every night

Valeriya Sarnovska left Kyiv in 2022 and moved to Guernsey for a few years before returning to her home city where she is currently living.

"Every night I hear the sirens, I feel completely empty," she said.

"There are almost no families that have lost no-one to the war."

She said if Ukraine loses international support it "will disappear and our kids are going to read about Ukraine only in books".

She added that Ukraine needed military help and said that she hoped European pressure would help lead to a resolution.

'We have cards'

Olga Turkoglu, 36, moved to Guernsey in November 2017.

She said: "Every day we wake up and read the news in the hope that something better has happened."

She said "so many" Ukrainians were uncertain about their future but added that her voluntary work for the Humanitarian Aid Guernsey charity gives her a sense of calm when she feels helpless.

She said: "We have cards and our cards are our people and our friends.

"The UK is a good friend and has our back.

"It kind of looks like it's hopeless but knowing that we have those cards gives us hope.

"We stopped the full-scale invasion in 2022, we didn't let Kyiv fall and we still have the belief that we will not stop and we will continue fighting."

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