Valentyna Yakovets, 49, from Kyiv, Ukraine. “We didn’t want to leave immediately, we hoped it would be solved in a day or a week. We tried to live as though it was the day before it all started.” They made the decision to leave after seeing neighbours carrying guns to defend themselves, and after a friend in England contacted her and offered to help secure lodging and visas through the Homes for Ukraine scheme. Valentyna came with her two daughters, Mariia 15, and Sofiia, 10. Her son Olexiy, 30, remained in Ukraine.
Photographed in Woking, England, 17 July 2024.