6.8 million Ukrainian refugees live in great insecurity

6.8 million Ukrainian refugees live in great insecurity

Yana Felos arrived in London in April 2022 with just a suitcase full of children's clothes and her little daughter. Her home was devastated by war and she found herself without friends, family or community in the UK. “I started a new life from scratch,” recalls 34-year-old Felos, who fled Russia’s all-out invasion to live with a host family – then complete strangers who were willing to take in Ukrainian refugees.

The shocking reality of return

After almost three years of war, the situation has changed. Felos confirms that she has nothing left in Ukraine. Originally from a Russian-speaking area in eastern Ukraine, the war destroyed the last remnants of their community. Her grandmother had temporarily moved to Belarus before the war and remained there when the invasion began. Her parents died years ago, and some friends from her homeland have turned to a worrying pro-Russian political path, as she reported in an interview with CNN in London.

The loss of the last connection

Felos' last connection to Ukraine was her husband, but he was unable to leave, and after being abroad for so long, her divorce was recently finalized. "He kept saying that the war would be over soon... wait a little longer, wait a little longer. The war will be over soon and we will be together again," Felos said. But she has long since given up hope that Ukraine will ever be safe enough to raise a family there.

Building life in exile

Felos and her daughter are among 6.8 million Ukrainian refugees who remain abroad, mostly in Europe, their lives marked by uncertainty. Every day she thinks about what will happen if the British government doesn't extend her refugee visa in 2025. “There is no plan B,” she says.

In the meantime, she has started to build a life in London - finding her own apartment and teaching English at a lifelong learning center. After the divorce, she has no plans to return to Ukraine but wants to focus on giving her 6-year-old daughter Alisa a better future.

Causes and requests to return

As communities become increasingly fragmented and the economy suffers, the Ukrainian government wants to encourage those who fled as refugees, especially women and children, to return. It sets up a Ministry of National Unity to create programs and incentives for the return of Ukrainians living abroad. "We cannot pressure people to return. I can send a very clear message to Ukrainians abroad that they should come and help, work in the defense industry, support our soldiers, pay taxes and support Ukraine," President Volodymyr Zelensky said at a news conference in October.

The worrying economic consequences

However, as the war continues, Ukraine is increasingly faced with the economic consequences of a weakened population and the future threat of a brain drain. "Every month of the 'hot' phase of the war leads to more and more people settling abroad and more destruction happening here, so fewer and fewer people will return," said economist Ella Libanova, director of the Ptoukha Institute of Demographic and Social Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

The security situation in Ukraine

The general security situation remains difficult. Ukraine has been hit by a surge in Russian ballistic missile attacks, with the number of drone strikes increasing monthly. In November, Russia launched 2,434 drones alone. On one of her return visits to Ukraine, Felos recalled telling her daughter that the sounds of nearby explosions were fireworks.

The longing for home

Despite the difficult circumstances, many Ukrainians long to return. For some, the life they once built in Ukraine seems too important to give up. Many people have saved their entire lives to buy homes, start businesses, and gain professional skills. “80% of Ukrainian refugees have higher education, university degrees,” reported Maryana Voronovych, a volunteer who helps other Ukrainians settle in Austria, adding: “It has been called the most professional wave of refugees in recent history.”

Decisions in the face of uncertainty

For many Ukrainians, the decision to return depends less on economic or government incentives and more on the practicalities of everyday life - mothers waiting for schools to reopen or for schools that operate underground to protect students from Russian attacks to return to normal operations. Victoria Rybka, 40, from the city of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, fled to Europe with her two young children after spending the first weeks of the war in the basement. In Germany, one of her children had difficulty communicating at school and the other developed a stress-related skin problem.

Only two months later, Rybka decided to return because she felt the need to return to her job in the police force and her family. "I can't leave my husband. We've been through so much together," she said. Kharkiv was eerily empty at this point, with only men and the elderly remaining. But now more and more mothers have returned as schools reopened underground. “Everyone makes their own decision,” she acknowledged. “I’ve made my decision – this is my home.”

Reported by CNN's Lauren Kent from London and Mariakostenko from Kyiv.