Ukrainian girl so traumatised by war she didn’t speak for 5 WEEKS
GENEROUS COUPLE HOST TWO FAMILIES WHO FLED COUNTRY
A NINE-YEAR-OLD Ukrainian refugee was so traumatised by war that she lost her voice for more than a month.
Milana Pankevych was stunned into silence for almost five weeks after Russia invaded her homeland.
But now the brave little girl has been rescued along with her 17-year-old brother, Artem, and mother, Olena, by a Trafford couple who are helping two families.
Andy Gilbride and his wife Grazyna, both 56, are hosting six Ukrainian refugees in their home in Timperley.
Trafford is hosting more refugees than anywhere else in Greater Manchester, with 199 visas issued for the borough through the government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme by May 3.
Andy said: “At first [the family] were worried about getting all six of them over. They said originally the 17-year-old boy might have to stay behind – because ‘he’d lived longer than his sister’ and the rule about fighting men.”
Artem was almost left behind after the Ukrainian government issued a ruling that all men must stay in the country to fight. He is still traumatised and doesn’t want to be around people.
“The little girl didn’t speak,” Andy said, referring to Milana. “She’s so sweet, she even bought a squeaky rubber chicken on her journey through Europe for our dog, Owen. I said to them, just wait until she gets here, she’ll start talking as soon as she sees the dog.”
Milana and her family arrived in England at the start of the month after they fled Lviv in western Ukraine, via Krakow in Poland.
Trafford is expecting to welcome as many as 1,000 refugees fleeing the conflict. Andy said: “My wife’s mother was Polish and in WW2 when the Russians came in, they killed her father, killed the young sons, put the four little girls on a sledge with their mother and sent them off as refugees. Her mum only survived because of someone’s help. She was taken in in India eventually and lived there for the last four years of the war. That’s why we’re doing this. I wouldn’t have my wife if that hadn’t have happened.”
The two families being hosted by Andy and Grazyna consist of two mothers, each with a son and daughter. Olena is 38, her son Artem is 17 and her daughter Milana is nine. Galina is also 38, her daughter Christina is 18 and her son Boris is 11.
Andy said Trafford council has been rigorous in checking his family can provide a safe haven for the fleeing Ukrainians. He said: “There were a lot of checks, especially for hosting kids. They visited around three or four times, checking our passports, our fire alarms, electrics, fire doors… making sure it was all safe.”
The council gives host families £350 per month to help look after refugees, which is flat rate per household. Refugee families can also get a one-off £200 in food voucher per family. The children can go to school, the adults can work and are expected to pay taxes.
They are also able to register with doctors and dentists. Andy said: “It’s just like they’ve come from the EU, like when we were still in it.”
Once their visas are approved, Ukrainians get a six-month visa, but if they go to Manchester Library for a three-hour appointment where they have photos taken of their eyes and finger prints, they can get a biometric visa application submitted.
If this is successful, that gives them a three-year, unlimited visa and they can apply for residency during that time if they want to.