REBECCA MATSYIEVSKA, 28 – UKRAINE

Stethoscope

I brought my Littmann stethoscope with me, because I am a doctor, and Putin and the other Russian criminals are not going to take it from me.

When I left Ukraine I thought, “Should I pack it or not?” since I know it’s going to be a hard process to get a licence to practise dermatology in the UK.

I’m volunteering and helping other refugees as a translator – I speak Ukrainian, Russian, Polish – and I am planning to go through the process of getting my medical diploma recognised in the UK.

I have to be hopeful about the future if I can.

I’m not sure I’ll ever go back to Ukraine. I’m not sure I’m ready for that.

I left my apartment in Odesa on the second day of the war and drove across Ukraine to Poland, almost without sleeping or even drinking water.

Then I came to London.

I had a nice life, now that’s gone. I have to try and start again. A friend had said to me – while I was driving by the city which was being bombed at that moment – that as soon as you hear a noise, you go and lay in the forest, open your mouth and cover your ears if there is a blast. That is how it is now.

My host family here in

London are very nice but now I am here, now I’ve stopped, I feel overwhelmed by emotion, by what has happened.

My friends in

Ukraine are trying to contact family but can’t get through so there’s no way of knowing.

It is terrifying.

My apartment hasn’t been bombed yet. I have a security app that shows me movement in the apartment and for weeks I was checking it, waiting to see Russian soldiers. Now I’ve stopped looking so much.

I left on the second day of the war. I had a nice life, now it’s gone. I have to start over again