Grieving Ukrainian mom finds refuge in UK, but little solace

By SYLVIA HUI
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Viktoria Kovalenko saw the death of her husband Petro and 12-year-old daughter Veronika last March when the car they were in was hit by a shell in northern Ukraine. Kovalenko survived, along with her then 1-year-old baby, Varvara. But they were soon picked up by Russian soldiers and held captive in a school basement for three weeks. Almost a year on from that ordeal, Kovalenko has found a temporary new home in a quiet English village with the kindness of volunteers, who helped her cross borders and apply for a U.K. visa. But she hasn’t yet found a way to live with her grief and trauma. And every day she longs to return to Chernihiv, the city she fled when war broke out last February.