We just want to say thank you to all the English people

UKRAINIAN FAMILY TELL OF WARM WELCOME AFTER FLEEING WAR

- SOPHIE HALLE-RICHARDS

AS THEY celebrated their first Christmas in England, it’s hard to comprehend what Alina Muhsin and her family have been through over the last 12 months.

Putin’s invasion of their home country, Ukraine, saw Alina, her husband Munadil, mother, Halyna, and their two children, Amir and Ariana, forced to leave behind life as they knew it, and head for the Polish border.

Following a terrifying journey of uncertainty across central Europe, the Muhsins were finally offered sanctuary in a small town outside Bury some 1,700 miles from their hometown of Kyiv.

After learning of the family’s plight through a colleague at work, Karen Hopwood and Jim Eynon welcomed them into their home in July. At the time Alina and Munadil spoke next to no English, and their children were timid and scared.

Some four months later, the family have now moved into their own home in Ainsworth in Bury, and Alina and Munadil rely on Google Translate a lot less. Their children have settled into a new school and have began making friends.

Their gratitude towards the town that has welcomed them is touching, and their optimism in the face of immense hardship is inspirational. But that doesn’t mean life isn’t still incredibly difficult.

Alina’s brother, who works as a teacher, and his family remain, in Kyiv, a city which is increasingly under attack and more dangerous as each day passes, the mum-of-two fears.