Viktoria’s Story: Adjusting to UK Life
Ukrainecast
BBC
4.7 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 15 August 2023
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Eight months in the country after losing her husband and daughter.
Ukrainecast catches up with Viktoria Kovalenko, whose story we’ve followed since the early days of the war. In the most tragic of circumstances, her husband and 12-year-old daughter Veronika were killed in front of her when they tried to escape the town of Chernihiv last year.
She then spent weeks hiding in bunkers while looking after her baby daughter Varvara, who also survived the attack, and eventually found her way to Poland. Late last year she and Varvara were able to move here to the UK.
After eight months of living in the UK, how is she adjusting to life now?
Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko.
Translation was provided by Irena Taranyuk. The producers were Arsenii Sokolov and Ivana Davidovic. The technical producer was Emma Crowe. The series producer is Tim Walklate. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham. Email Ukrainecast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments. You can also send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram to +44 330 1239480.
You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord
If you have been affected by any of the issues mentioned in this episode, you can find help and support here https://www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:04.9 | Hello, it's 538 days since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. |
| 0:10.7 | Today, we are going to catch up with Victoria Kovalenko, |
| 0:14.1 | whose story we followed since the early days of the war. |
| 0:17.5 | In the most horrific and tragic of circumstances, |
| 0:21.3 | her husband Petro and her 12-year-old daughter Veronica |
| 0:25.0 | were killed in front of her when they tried to escape their town, |
| 0:29.1 | Cheneyiv last year. |
| 0:31.0 | She then spent weeks hiding in bunkers |
| 0:34.0 | while looking after her baby daughter, Varvara, |
| 0:36.7 | who also survived their attack. |
| 0:39.0 | And eventually, they found their way to Poland. |
| 0:43.0 | And late last year, she and Varvara were able to move here to the UK. |
| 0:47.7 | The first time we spoke to Victoria was in June 2022. |
| 0:51.8 | Back then, we asked her why she felt it was important for her |
| 0:55.6 | to tell her story to you, listening around the world. |
| 0:59.2 | Her words were translated by our friend, Irena Taranuk. |
| 1:03.4 | Because I see on Instagram, I follow some Russian stars, |
| 1:10.7 | and I realize that Russian civilians do not believe us |
| 1:14.4 | when we tell them the truth. |
| 1:16.3 | And I don't understand how they can disbelieve us. |
| 1:20.2 | Some of them are even asking how much have you been paid to say that. |
... |
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