Ukraine: Artist's story from fearing for life in Ukraine to drawing pet portraits in Yorkshire

On February 24, Kukarina Anastasia Yurievna was woken at 5am by explosions. Russian forces had reached the outskirts of the city where she lived - Kharkiv in Ukraine - and her life was soon to change beyond recognition.

“We woke up to explosions and could not believe it,” Anastasia recalls. “Fear was overwhelming and it was hard to think positively. Perhaps my psychological defences worked and kept me from falling into desperate thoughts. It was all perceived as something not real. But death could have been very close with every explosion. It was hard to go out to get food under fire and stand in long lines to get away with nothing.”

She recalls running to reach a truck with humanitarian aid and sitting in a damp basement of a house, taking shelter, uncertain of what was to come.

“We spent a whole day trying to call a taxi or some kind of help with a car, but no one could come,” she says. Eventually, a volunteer aid worker managed to reach Anastasia and her partner on the way to pick up a mother and child in need of help too.

“At first we had a hard time getting to Lviv in western Ukraine, waiting in the cold for nearly seven hours for a train, then we were in an overcrowded carriage, sitting on the floor for 17 hours,” she recalls.

They spent a month in Poland, wondering what to do next, before hearing about the UK’s Homes for Ukraine scheme. They have now been with a host family in Low Laithe near Harrogate for around two months.

“I don’t think anyone has ever done as much for us as they have,” Anastasia says. “They are always there and ready to help. They drove all the way to Paris to pick us up and take us on the ferry and I am touched by their concern. We often spend time together, travel and learn each other’s cultures and languages.

“I am amazed by the local landscape and architecture. Everything is very different, including the weather. We haven’t talked to many people here so far, but if we do, everyone is very supportive and friendly.”

In Ukraine, Anastasia would often paint, though more as a hobby. She is now working to establish herself as an artist in the UK, including drawing pet portraits.

“I learnt to draw in my childhood and have been developing this ability all my life,” she says. “I only took one art class. I guess I got a major boost from my university studies in architecture, which offered many interesting assignments and a separate subject in drawing and painting.

“I am often inspired by something strong, something that touches the soul. The courage and stamina of people. Clever and brave animals. Meaningful phrases from songs and films. Or something as ordinary as a beautiful sunset. I love to see how my art makes people happy and how excited people are to find the resemblance of their furry friends to the drawing I have made.”

One image is of a wolf, holding in its teeth a canvas with the inscription “God Save Ukraine”.“The horror of war and anger at the invaders spawned the wolf and I am not afraid to portray him in any role against Russia,” Anastasia says. “I was overwhelmed with pride and patriotism every time I could use such a powerful tool as art and portray everything I was experiencing.”

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