“It smelled like dog urine”: A Ukrainian woman returned to Kiev because of the condition of her flat in the UK (photo)

Ukrainian refugee Taisiya, 35, decided to return to Kiev rather than stay in the accommodation offered in Swansea, Wales. All because of the poor condition of the apartment. BBC reports this.

She spent 21 days in the Ukrainian capital with her seven-month-old daughter because “it seemed like the best option.”

But he later moved back to Wales and volunteers from the local community helped renovate the house. He says he is now safe in Wales with the help of others.

Swansea Council said that the kitchen and bathroom were renovated, the walls were plastered, and paint and decoration materials were provided.

Taisiya and her daughter Solomiya, who only gave her name to journalists, arrived in Swansea via Poland in June 2022. Husband Dmitry remained in Kiev, now the family is divided.

He was previously staying at the home of a British family who had helped him a lot and were still in touch. He started looking for independent housing in January 2023.

“Since I was a single mother, no agency gave me the opportunity to rent a house. I only looked at three properties in seven months,” Taisiya said.

homeless situation

He was even advised to obtain “homeless” status in order to qualify for social housing. She stayed in hotels and with friends she met in Wales.

They later offered him a house, but he said it was uninhabitable.

“There were lots of holes in the walls and floor, it smelled like dog urine, and the radiator was leaking. To be honest, the basement in Kiev was in better shape,” he explained, so we had to return to Ukraine. “We returned to Kiev for 21 days but could not sleep because of the terrorist attacks. We felt like zombies.”

Realizing this could go on for a long time, he decided to pay £2,000 (€2,336) to renovate his home in Swansea.

Volunteers and neighbors helped install new flooring and stucco and paint the walls.

“Without this help from people, I think we would have lived in Kiev, although it was dangerous. We are very grateful for all the help given to us,” he said. “July was the worst month of my life, it was so hard to clean the house with a little kid, it was so, so hard.”

Swansea Council said around 120 Ukrainian families have been housed in private, council and social housing since the start of the war in Ukraine.

Taisiya says that although they have managed to find a home, the future remains uncertain.

She said she regularly communicates with her husband via video so he can see how his daughter is growing. They went to Kiev again for Christmas in December.

Now Taisiya organizes her life in Wales, attends courses. She received a scholarship to go to solomiya kindergarten.

“We don’t know what to do yet, we live here and try to find a good job, but of course we are very worried about our future,” he explained.

The Welsh government has announced that it wants visas for Ukrainians to be extended beyond 18 months.

The statement said £8.2 million had been allocated to help “the movement of people from Ukraine into long-term accommodation and their integration into local communities”.

The UK government has issued three-year visas to Ukrainians seeking asylum in the UK. The first visas issued were scheduled to expire in March 2025, and it was announced in February that they would be extended for 18 months.

Let us remind you that the residences of Ukrainian refugees burned down in Germany, and the police are conducting an investigation into the arson incident.

Moreover Focus In his material he explained that a civil war may be approaching in Poland. Protesters stopped buses carrying Ukrainian refugees.