A Ukrainian mum fled to the UK after a Russian soldier pointed a machine gun at her son.
Daria Sezonenka says she is "extremely grateful" after leaving her war-torn home city of Kherson and successfully securing refuge in Midlothian in Scotland. The 32-year-old is living in the Roslin area with her son, 6, thanks to the Homes for Ukraine Programme.
She said the Ukrainian city was being relentlessly bombarded and she spent six months under terrifying occupation with her child. Friends of hers were killed and her son even had a gun pointed at him during a home search. She told EdinburghLive: "When you are under occupation, it is really hard to leave and we struggled to move from Kherson. It was hard watching other Ukrainians flee the country within the first few days of the war because that just wasn't possible for us. It was all luck.
"At one point, a Russian soldier came to check on our housing. My son was sleeping in the bedroom and the soldier checked in his room and pointed a machine gun at my son. You can imagine how I felt in that moment. We would hear explosions all day long and I would just tell my son that it was a thunderstorm because he was just too young to understand. We were subjected to many checks at checkpoints where people were raped and tortured."
Daria says her son had a machine pointed at him during a terrifying home search (Supplied)"We had to clear out our phones and had no means of communication. Several of my friends were killed, some by missiles, some by torture. It just became more dangerous to stay there every day." Daria and her son eventually managed to escape Ukraine and arrived in Roslin in September 2022. She praised their sponsors as a "godsend".
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She said: "We came to Roslin to stay with our first sponsors who were a nice retired couple. They provided us with a room in their house. We spent six weeks with them and it was such a lovely time. They helped us to adapt to a safer life, school and society. However, for personal reasons they were unable to sponsor us longer and I was forced to look for housing or other sponsors."
She explained how she was able to secure more sponsors in Penicuik through Midlothian Council before moving on to live in her own flat. "My new sponsors were honestly a godsend because they helped me so much," Daria said. "They helped me to eventually be able to rent a flat. Their friends and other people that they knew actually organised a charity fundraiser so that I was able to go and buy furniture and things for my new home. They cared for us at a time when I really needed it."
Daria hopes that more people from Ukraine will be able to secure refuge in Scotland so that they can feel safer and at peace. She said: "I just believe that people are so incredibly generous and helpful here. People from Kherson and Ukraine deserve this help, especially women. I have been able to witness the sisterhood of women here. I have been shown just how strong-willed and generous they really are. All of the help I have received in Midlothian has been from the generosity of the people and I am so grateful for that."
According to the UK Government website, the Homes for Ukraine programme allows UK citizens to offer a home for those who are fleeing Ukraine. Contributors to the programme can be matched with a person or family who have already lived in the UK but needs a new home.
Anyone in the UK can register their interest if they have not already been matched with a Ukrainian person or family. Participants are expected to offer a room for at least six months, they should not have a criminal record and if they are not a British citizen, they must have leave to remain in the UK for at least six months.
Information about the Homes for Ukraine Programme can be found here.
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