‘Stirling people are my greatest treasure’
Ukrainians look back on year that tore their lives apart and how our city became their safe haven
For Anna Yanenko and her teenager daughter Eleonora, February 24, 2022 is a date that is forever ingrained in their nightmares.
It was the day their lives were turned upside down as Russian forces stormed into their peaceful idyll in the Ukrainian city of Cherinihiv and forced them on the run.
For the pair, it was a gruelling journey that took them from horrific conditions in a basement hiding from Russian troops all the way to the relative calm of life in Stirling.
Anna has been at the forefront of efforts to help others in a similar position to herself settle in the area, setting up the ‘Ukrainians in Stirling’ group on the Telegram network – with the group now boasting 280 members.
But with the anniversary of the invasion taking place last week, Anna has shared her own story of escape – including hearing her own daughter’s fears that they would not make it out alive.
Anna told the Observer: “On February 24, I woke up to a phone call from a friend who informed me that the war had started and I immediately heard the first explosion. I ran to my child and told her that she was not going to school, that the war had started.
“We decided to go to my husband’s parents, as we thought it would be safer there. But we were wrong, we ended up in hell itself. Everything happened so fast that it was impossible to believe. During the explosions, I ran with my child to my neighbours because they had a basement. The first night there were four of us, and on the 25th there were eight of us in a very small room.
“We were lying on the floor in our clothes like fish in a can. There were constant explosions from artillery.
“The Russian tank brigade attacked our location. Houses were burning in circles; two women ran to us whose houses were bombed, but the main thing was that they remained alive.
“My daughter and I crawled on the floor in the basement corridor. I put her head between my legs and covered her with my body so that at least she would remain alive.
“I remember how the realization that she was alive subsided and she began to have hysterics, Eleonora cried and screamed “Mom, tell me we’re going to die”? And at that moment I thought yes, but I couldn’t say it. We received a message that we need to make a decision and move somewhere because this area will be shelled. It was very scary as people were fired upon by the enemy during transportation.
“We came to our parents’ relatives. The adults slept in the house. The children and I are in the basement. We were four families – 12 people. “There was no light, electricity, mobile communication, or water. People passed on information that they were distributing bread. But when they were standing in line, Russian planes shot civilians.”
After being told to leave the city, Anna, her husband Artem and Eleonora headed for the city of Poltava in the centre of Ukraine – embarking on a 12 hour journey driving a road that normally took two hours.
Artem then left Poltava back to rejoin the fighting in Chernihiv, with Anna and Eleonora provided with housing, food and clothes and it was there that she was in contact with Helen Padberg from Stirling, a Ukrainian who has been helping to find homes for refugees fleeing the fighting. After spending a month in
Poland, the pair flew to Scotland and began their new life last summer – with Anna’s father, mother and daughter also still living in Chernihiv.
Anna now works in a cafe in Stirling as a kitchen assistant and alongside setting up the Telegram group, she has been involved in organising peace marches through the city and aims to run a charity fair over Easter to support Ukraine and thanked the generosity of locals.
Anna continued: “Upon arrival in Scotland, my daughter was very happy, it was here that she felt safe. I spent a month recovering and working with a psychologist and now I am taking English lessons and have started working.
“I rent an apartment in the city centre, my daughter goes to Stirling High and she really likes studying there. We have a goal to learn English with her, to help those in need.
“The people of Stirling are the greatest treasure for me. They are our support and help in everything. I am looking forward to our victory, so that we can return to Chernihiv one day and I invite everyone who has helped me live here to visit me.”