'I watched my homeland under attack for one year, but Ukraine will endure'

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Today marks one-year since Ukraine woke up from the sounds of explosions on February 24, 2022.It happened in the early morning while people were sleeping peacefully within their homes.It was 7am when my boyfriend woke me up to say that I needed to read the news and phone my family back in Ukraine.Immediately, I grabbed my phone and saw messages and missed calls from relatives and friends who lived in my home city of Odesa."I got woken up at 5am.

We have heard some explosions," said one of my friends.For a good moment, I didn't know how to respond. There was still a sense of disbelief that it was happening.Some people packed their bags and were ready to cross the border straight away...some didn't know what to do.I patiently waited on everyone's response and only helped when they needed it by looking up the tickets for trains, helping to find a taxi or looking up which country provided shelters.It is impossible to describe how you feel when you know that your loved ones are in danger and you are so far away in Scotland and unable to do anything.I grew up in Odesa until I was 14-years-old and moved with my family to Scotland, where my dad is from.

I never expected that 10 years later I would cover stories about my home country being invaded while I am pursuing my career in journalism.

I remember visiting many cities and towns while living in Ukraine, including Kyiv and Kharkiv. After moving to Scotland nine years ago, I would visit Odesa every time I had an opportunity as I still had my mum's side of the family and friends there.