ROD TO THE RESCUE
A Ukranian refugee family have been helped by the music legend
When Rostyslav and Olena fled wartorn Ukraine with their five children and just the clothes on their backs, they didn’t know what support would await them when they arrived in the UK.
They certainly weren’t expecting British rock legend Rod Stewart to be first in line to offer help!
But thanks to the Maggie May crooner, the family are now housed in a three-storey townhouse in Berkshire, England, where Rod has promised to pay their rent and bills for at least a year.
And Rod recently met the clan for the first time for tea and biscuits and said it was a “delight” getting to know the new arrivals and their children Taras, 17, Kostya, 16, Roman, 13, Mariia, 10, and Dymtro, two.
“I walked through the door and they all came running down the stairs, all beautifully dressed in Ukranian national costume,” Rod, 77, told British newspaper the Daily Mirror. “It was so lovely that they all made that effort.”
Rod and his wife Penny Lancaster, 51, decided to help as many Ukrainian people as they could after watching footage of the war on the evening news. They organised trucks to send supplies to Ukraine and transported 16 refugees to safety in Berlin.
‘Our children are now safe and able to learn normally in school’
“Words couldn’t describe what we were watching... we were completely beside ourselves,” says Rod.
He was then put in contact with Rostyslav and his family – who were unaware of the hitmaker’s fame at the time – to help them start a new life.
“They certainly know who I am now, since I left about 500 CDS for them,” he joked.
“They are such a lovely little family.” Olena and Rostyslav, who don’t yet speak English, thanked Rod and his family in a statement. “[Many thanks] for their openness and genuine and big hearts... our children are now safe and able to learn normally in school.”