{"id":7343,"date":"2026-04-21T16:52:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T15:52:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/?p=7343"},"modified":"2026-04-21T17:54:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T16:54:08","slug":"even-though-im-far-from-ukraine-i-still-feel-everything-that-happens-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/inter\/2026\/04\/21\/even-though-im-far-from-ukraine-i-still-feel-everything-that-happens-there\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cEven though I\u2019m far from Ukraine, I still feel everything that happens there\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sofiia, soon to take on the role as UoA Ukrainian Society president, is a third year computer science student. Originally from the eastern city Kharkiv, Sofiia spoke with <\/span>The Gaudie<\/span><\/i> about navigating her move to Scotland in the midst of war.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How old were you when you moved here?<\/b><\/p>\n

I was 16. I was about to go in my last year of high school in Ukraine, and I came to the Highlands. I went to high school there, so I went to both schools at the same time. I graduated from my Ukrainian school and here from S5 and then I just came straight to uni.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, you had two schools at the same time?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Yeah. The only reason why I had to do it is because my Ukrainian school got bombed on my birthday, in June 2022.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s when I basically decided to move <\/span>somewhere<\/span><\/i>, and the UK was one of the options, because I spoke English back then.<\/span><\/p>\n

Did you come with your family?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

I came with my mom and my sister. They\u2019re still in the Highlands. They didn\u2019t move to Aberdeen, it\u2019s just me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Are you here under the Homes for Ukrainians visa?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Yes. It\u2019s fine, but also it\u2019s a bit hard to think about the future. I can\u2019t really think about what I\u2019m going to do, because my visa is expiring in February 2027. They said they would extend it for another two years which means I can do my master\u2019s here as well. But after, I have no idea, because if I don\u2019t get a job, I\u2019ll have to leave.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It just sounds silly to me to have undergraduates and masters from Britain and then move back to Ukraine. I probably won\u2019t find a job there.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So there\u2019s a lot of uncertainty about the future?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

There is a lot of uncertainty, especially because it doesn\u2019t go towards a passport. You just have to go into work with something like a student visa. The work visa requirements right now are just insane. I don\u2019t know what\u2019s gonna be there for me in the future.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But also, I\u2019m grateful that there is an opportunity for me to be there right now. <\/span>I don\u2019t know what it\u2019s gonna be tomorrow, but today is fine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How did you find navigating moving over here?<\/b><\/p>\n

So, because I\u2019m from the East, I moved first to the West of Ukraine and tried to settle there. I just realised I couldn\u2019t really stay in a country where there was nothing left for me. So, we decided to move to the UK.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We found a bus with volunteers from Birmingham – they were travelling to Poland and then back here. We found a sponsor, an amazing woman, and that\u2019s why we moved. We got on the bus for a three-day trip.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Because I knew English, it was easy to adapt. My sister was only 7 years old, so for her it was quite hard because she didn\u2019t know the language. Now, she\u2019s fluent. Now she starts to forget Ukrainian and she sounds very Scottish to me. My mom settled down pretty fine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My dad is still in Ukraine; I haven\u2019t seen him in probably three years. It\u2019s very hard to contact him, and it\u2019s hard to stay in contact when people are there. <\/span>It\u2019s hard to explain that, even though I\u2019m far from Ukraine, I still feel everything that happens there.<\/span> And I remember what happened to me and it\u2019s hard. But I guess you just get used to it over time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What do you miss the most about Ukraine?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

I miss my family and I miss my friends. Also the things that you\u2019re used to, like that I never graduated properly. You know those COVID kids that are always saying, like, \u201cwe never had a graduation\u201d, and that\u2019s how I feel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I went back to Ukraine once in these four years. I had to go and see my school. There\u2019s pretty much nothing left from school, because it got bombed two or three times by that time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So it\u2019s probably the memories I miss.<\/span><\/p>\n

Is there any way that you can make Aberdeen feel more like your home?<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I already call Aberdeen my home, or Scotland altogether. Because when I travel, I know I\u2019ll go back. I have my job, my friends, and university. I got a hamster. I know that I will go home to Scotland and it feels like home.<\/span><\/p>\n

Aberdeen is nice. It reminds me sometimes of my town and I\u2019m like, \u201coh, we used to have the same little building or like, I used to go there in the same place back in my city\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There’s quite a lot of things Scottish people do for us to feel like we are welcome.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Ukrainian Society hosted a lot of events throughout the last year. What is the purpose of having these events?<\/b><\/p>\n

The main purpose is, because there\u2019s a lot of Ukrainians, and even though there is a part of us that tries to stay together, there are people that don\u2019t even know anything about the society.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I think the main purpose is for them to feel a bit of a home vibe – to come and just chill in a 1st language or to eat traditional food or to remember things. Because we do quite often go into, \u201coh remember back then in your city\u201d, or tell all the jokes about Ukraine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On the other hand, we don’t want people to forget that the war is still going on. With our society, we do have political sort of events where we put up posters or do a march around the campus, and just try to tell people, \u201c<\/span>yes, we are here, but also there are so many people back at home that still suffer<\/span>\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How do the people at Aberdeen University feel about Ukraine? Are people supportive of you if they see you demonstrating on the streets?<\/b><\/p>\n

Sometimes we get people coming and asking, \u201cwhat is this for?\u201d or \u201chow can we help?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There is another side – when we would put up a poster that the war is still going on, in a couple of hours, the posters would be gone. It\u2019s like people are just ripping them off, and there is nothing we can do about that. We can put them up again, but they will be gone again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I guess some people don\u2019t want to hear that the war is going on, because of their own safe bubble. <\/span>But you can\u2019t be apolitical in this world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you have been impacted by any global conflicts, please share your experiences – we will respect your anonymity. Contact us via international@thegaudie.com.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sofiia, soon to take on the role as UoA Ukrainian Society president, is a third year computer science student. Originally from the eastern city Kharkiv, Sofiia spoke with The Gaudie about navigating her move to Scotland in the midst of war.\u00a0 How old were you when you moved here? I was 16. I was about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":7377,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","iawp_total_views":17,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[1864,1863,1179,220,1167,311,381,622,183,1862],"wf_post_folders":[247],"class_list":["post-7343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-inter","tag-highlands","tag-homes-for-ukrainians","tag-international","tag-interview","tag-kharkiv","tag-politics","tag-scotland","tag-ukraine","tag-university-of-aberdeen","tag-university-of-aberdeen-ukrainian-society"],"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Emily Reid","author_link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/author\/emily-reid\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot-2026-04-21-at-16.36.18-1-300x199.png","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["International<\/a>"],"unlinked":["International<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["highlands<\/a>","homes for Ukrainians<\/a>","international<\/a>","Interview<\/a>","Kharkiv<\/a>","Politics<\/a>","Scotland<\/a>","Ukraine<\/a>","University of Aberdeen<\/a>","university of Aberdeen Ukrainian society<\/a>"],"unlinked":["highlands<\/span>","homes for Ukrainians<\/span>","international<\/span>","Interview<\/span>","Kharkiv<\/span>","Politics<\/span>","Scotland<\/span>","Ukraine<\/span>","University of Aberdeen<\/span>","university of Aberdeen Ukrainian society<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 5 months ago","modified":"Updated 5 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on 21 April 2026","modified":"Updated on 21 April 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on 21 April 2026 16:52","modified":"Updated on 21 April 2026 17:54"},"featured_img_caption":"Photograph: University of Aberdeen Ukrainian Society on Instagram","series_order":"","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7343"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7343\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7380,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7343\/revisions\/7380"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7343"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=7343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}