‘I could not believe it! Why war?’ Ukrainian English teacher shares her journey to Chesterfield

Before the war in Ukraine, Iryna Zaiarna, 55, was an English teacher in a secondary school in a town near to Kharkiv.

Remembering the day the invasion started, Iryna said: “On that day I went to the school bus, it was early frosty morning. Nobody was on the streets, and I took some pictures, one of a nice sunrise. I don’t know why but I thought at that moment ‘It is the last peaceful sky’. Around 10 minutes later, my mobile phone rang and my friend from Poltava said to me ‘Ira! The war has started! Putin is bombing Kiev, Kharkiv, all of Ukraine!’ I could not believe it! Why war?

"I started to cry and I did not understand what I had to do. I called my brother, my eldest son in Kharkiv, and my dad, but they were nervous. They told me ‘Don’t worry, maybe it will be finished soon.’ We did not believe that it was really war. We just wanted to stop this awful dream.”

Iryna has two sons, aged 32 and 20, with the eldest son still living in Kharkiv with his two small children. Iryna told us the emotional story of her family who are still living in Ukraine.

“They decided to be together and did not risk leaving the city. My small grandchildren lived with sounds of bombs and awful sound of Russian planes over their heads. I cried and asked my son to leave every day,” she said.

“I lived in a small village where there was not any Russian army, but some rockets fell down in our park and on the fields. Every day we heard the sounds of sirens. Many people from Kharkiv moved in with their relatives in our village. I asked my son to, but my eldest son worked in the supermarket as a manager. They worked even when it was a very dangerous time, when some Russian soldiers attacked our army on the streets. He worked every day because people from nearby shelters needed food and drink. I am proud of my son and I am worried about him and his family.”

Her brother, along with his wife and pets, are also currently in Kharkiv.

She said: “My brother with his wife and their pets, lived the first month of the war in an occupied village north of Kharkiv city. Their village is the main way to Kharkiv from Russia itself, a lot of Russian military cars and tanks went into Ukraine on that road. My brother’s family was occupied in their village, they could not go anywhere for a long time.

“They lived without light, gas, water, food, and mobile connection. Every day and every night there was only the loud sounds of rockets and bombs around. Many houses were destroyed or burnt, many people were killed. We were worried about them. Only in the early morning could he write a short message ‘We are okay. We are alive’. It was the most terrible period in my life. There were many Russian soldiers in the village and a lot of Russian military equipment. Russian soldiers stood their rocket equipment next to my brother’s house and attacked the city, all parts of the city, especially at night-time.”

Her brother managed to escape from the terrors of war but made the decision to go back to Ukraine to help rebuild their village.

"One night Russian soldiers with guns went into my brother’s house and shouted to them, ‘Go away!’. Then they went through Ukraine, Czech Republic, Poland, and Germany. In Germany they stayed for nearly one month with their pets. After that they decided to come back to Ukraine. That was at the end of April, and now they still stay in Kharkiv and even came back to their house in the north of Kharkiv. In this village there is still no gas, water, and electricity but they are in their own house at last. The Ukrainian army took away Russian occupants. My brother helped other people and helps them every day. He rebuilds everything. His house is destroyed too. I am proud of him and his wife too, their kids are safe in other towns in Ukraine.”

Iryna had a friend called Simon, who she had known for a long time, from Sheffield, who worked as an English teacher in a camp in Crimea. Simon told her about the ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme and asked her to apply. She applied in April and by May she had found a host. In August, she made the difficult decision to escape to the UK, but her family decided to stay in Ukraine. She managed to find her sponsor, Louise Lowe, who she describes as a “very nice and kind woman”.

Louise showed her around Chesterfield, helped her with documentation, and even helped Iryna when she fell ill. Iryna was keen to work to help support her family back in Ukraine. “I looked for a job, and I started to work from my house as an English teacher for my Ukrainian students on Skype. But I was really missing my family, so I decided to help them. I can always find the positives in a difficult situation.”

Before the war started in Ukraine, Iryna used her crafting skills to make Christmas presents and sold them on the internet. When she moved to Chesterfield, she used her talents to make some ‘motanka’ dolls, as well as cute animals, for her new found friends in the UK. Explaining why Motanka dolls are important to the Ukrainian people, Iryna told us more about their history.

“The main difference between a motanka and dolls familiar to us or dolls from other countries is the absence of a face. More precisely, the outlines of the face on the motanka doll are depicted as a symbolic interweaving of multi-coloured threads, in the form of a cross. Ukrainians believed that the spirit of the family was present in such a doll, and it protects members of its family from all sorts of problems, transfers age-old wisdom and knowledge to future generations.

“They are really useful presents with very old history. They are made using special technology for good luck. I made them with my love and gave them to my new friends. After seeing the dolls my British and Ukrainian friends asked me to sell them, so I started to sew them and sent them to different parts of the UK. I don’t remember how many dolls I made, but they are glad to have a small piece of my warm heart from Ukraine. After selling them, I send the money to my family in Ukraine.”

Whilst Iryna is enjoying her time here in Holmewood, she still thinks of her family every day.

She added: “Our family lives separated from each other, but we call each other every day and I wait for only a short message, ‘We are alive. We are okay’. I remember every day of this war, when I could not eat, could not sleep, could not think. My eldest son with his family and his small children were in the most dangerous city. My brother’s family was in occupation. My niece was hidden in the underground. My nephew’s family heard bombs and Russian military planes over the city. It was a very horrific time.”

You can find Iryna on the ‘Chesterfield 4 Ukraine’ Facebook group, where she sells her hand knitted motanka dolls as well as Christmas themed items. She also teaches classes on how to make various traditional Ukrainian gifts.