Ukraine war TikToker's journey to safety in the UK

On 24 February 2022, beingness changed wholly for galore Ukrainians - including Valeria Shashenok.

The Russian penetration of Ukraine led millions to fly their homes and their country.

"It was a nightmare. I couldn't realise this had happened and I was surviving successful a weaponry structure with my parents," Valeria tells BBC Newsbeat.

This festive season, the 21-year-old volition beryllium spending Christmas and New Year's not with her loved ones backmost home, but with her "British family" successful London.

"A large array with bully food. New Year is the large enactment that I ever celebrate."

But this twelvemonth has not had overmuch to observe for Valeria, peculiarly erstwhile the warfare broke out.

If her look seems familiar, it's due to the fact that Valeria's TikTok videos documenting the harm and demolition caused by Russian missiles went viral.

"I understood it was my limb to usage and dispersed accusation astir my country," says Valeria, from Chernihiv.

"I recorded it due to the fact that I felt I could bash that successful my autochthonal city. I saw these buildings that I spent my schoolhouse time."

Valeria says making videos was a mode of protecting her intelligence wellness and her "key to not afloat accepting what was happening".

"But erstwhile you spot thousands killed, you realise it's not a movie. It's beingness and my country."

Valeria yet made the determination to permission Ukraine.

She describes taking a dilatory seven-hour car travel from Chernihiv to Kyiv, and past a bid to the metropolis of Lviv, earlier different 12-hour travel to Poland, yet reaching a friend's location successful Warsaw.

"I was truthful blessed to get there. But my caput was wholly successful Ukraine."

She's present successful the UK, reaching London acknowledgment to a substance of luck and kindness.

Valeria enactment connected her Instagram Story that she was readying to travel to Britain and was looking for a spot to stay.

She had a effect from idiosyncratic who offered a country successful their location for free.

"I present unrecorded with a British household and it's astonishing that radical tin help. I've met truthful galore bully radical who helped maine a lot."

She describes what Russia has done arsenic "genocide successful my state with galore Ukrainians killed".

One of those is idiosyncratic highly adjacent to Valeria's bosom - her cousin, who she considered a brother.

"He was 18 years aged and successful this nightmare, helium unluckily near the weaponry structure wherever helium was with my parents.

"He was successful his location erstwhile a Russian rocket went disconnected successful the area. And helium was dormant successful beforehand of his father."

Though she is present implicit a 1000 miles distant successful London, Valeria inactive feels her country's symptom and the "terrible situation" it is in.

"My parents bash not person energy astatine home. My friends bash not person h2o and this wintertime is the hardest due to the fact that of the conditions."

Valeria says she is conscionable waiting for a "peaceful period".

A fewer days ago, she recovered retired her visa exertion for the UK has been successful.

"I request to beryllium happy, I request to consciousness it. I don't privation to beryllium bittersweet mundane due to the fact that I person warfare beingness - but I person my life. And of people I request to absorption besides connected my life."

"I privation to proceed to dispersed accusation astir my state and to beryllium a idiosyncratic who has the powerfulness of a dependable due to the fact that I consciousness that I tin interaction people."

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