Ukrainian Mother Recounts War Escape, Leads Humanitarian Aid Efforts

A mother, compelled to depart Ukraine with her two children, stated, “I never could imagine that I would be writing the phone numbers, addresses and names on their hands.” Nadia Tikhonova, who currently resides in Oakham, Rutland, played a role in establishing the inaugural Ukrainian Rotary club in the UK. This club is presently gathering wheelchairs, crutches, and walking frames for shipment to individuals requiring assistance in Ukraine. The 41-year-old arrived in the UK in March 2022, having traveled from Irpin following Russia’s invasion of her homeland. She further remarked, “I will never forget those moments, and I will never want them to go through that again.” Ms Tikhonova recounted being awakened by shelling at 04:30 on 24 February 2022, though she initially believed it would be brief. She also mentioned, “I even took my dog for a walk.” Nevertheless, with renewed shelling the subsequent day, Ms Tikhonova “realised that it’s time to escape.” She detailed, “We took the kids, we sat in the car, and we drove, I think it was 19 hours to get to the western part of the Ukraine.” Ms Tikhonova and her family initially resided in Burley-on-the-Hill with a host family for nearly two years under the Homes for Ukraine initiative, prior to securing a rental property in Oakham. While her husband is also with her in the UK, she noted that numerous family members remain in Ukraine. She stated, “We are missing them, and we are in touch.” She commented, “It is awful, and I can’t blame the world that it’s been a bit tired with this war, but it is still on.” “My mother-in-law works in the hospital, and she says it’s getting more and more scary.” “It’s in the centre of Kyiv, and she says there are days when the air alarm doesn’t stop sounding.” “We hope that the war finishes really soon, but we realise that so many lives, even of those who never fought in the war, they will never come back from it.” “They are really broken mentally, because when you’re living in that for more than three years, and you don’t know whether you will wake up in the morning, whether your children will come back from school.” Ms Tikhonova serves as the joint chairperson of the Ukrainian Rotary Impact Club in Rutland, an organization officially established in April with backing from the Rotary Club of Rutland. This group is presently gathering mobility equipment for shipment to Ukraine. She explained, “With this project, and with us launching this club, we do two things.” “Firstly, we are helping those who are there, those who struggle, those who lost their limbs, and it is in a great demand now, all this mobility equipment.” Ms Tikhonova also expressed a desire to reciprocate the assistance and support her family received in the UK from Rotary and other organizations. She concluded, “This project is probably the drop in the ocean, but if we can help at least a few people, at least someone, we will do something.”