Can Scotland’s Ukrainian refugees ever go home? | UK News

The war in Ukraine is approaching the start of its fifth year, with a pause in peace talks and Russia attacking the country’s vital energy infrastructure in the middle of a harsh winter.

The first three-way peace talks between Russia, Ukraine and the US have ended with no apparent breakthrough and some debate as to when they will resume.

The two-day sessions coincided with waves of Russian air strikes targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

Repeated strikes have crippled the power supply to major Ukrainian cities, leaving millions without heating or light as temperatures hover around -15C (5F) for the third week in a row.

For those war refugees who have come seeking sanctuary in the UK, a major question is what would they do should the war come to an end?

Svitlana Savinova is one of the 29,112 Ukrainians who have come to Scotland since 2022, out of a total of 310,000 across the UK.

Her home town of Izyum was captured by Russian forces in the illegal invasion of March 2022. What has happened there has fundamentally changed the place she once called home.

“My town is completely destroyed. Before the war, there was a population of 40,000. Now it’s about 20,000,” she says.

“My town was so beautiful, green, and peaceful,” she says – but since it was liberated by Ukraine’s army six months after being taken by Russia, it’s become what Svitlana calls a “military hub”, being so close to the frontlines of the war.

“I’m one of these millions of Ukrainian mothers who left the country with children,” she says, referring to her daughter Maria, who is now 14.

Svitlana’s home was bombed in early March 2022 – leaving her with nothing.

“I lost everything, and we just survived because my family and our neighbours were hiding in the cellar,” she says.

Since moving to Elgin, the family have attempted to rebuild their lives.

Svitlana, an engineer in Ukraine before the war, has completed an HNC engineering course at University of the Highlands and Islands Moray, an opportunity she is very grateful for and one she wants to build on.

She says Maria has become more fluent in English while also learning to play drums in the town’s junior pipe band.

Svitlana is clear – she sees her future in the UK, partly because her family are trying to establish themselves here and partly because she has no home to return to.

She sees Scotland as their home now.

“It’s where my child is so happy and safe, and has everything for a good life,” she says. “My land is inside my heart, but for all my life I will be so grateful to Scotland and the UK for this opportunity to live here peacefully in Elgin.”

The UK government says it is “fully committed to supporting Ukraine in its fight against Putin’s illegal war, while also providing a safe and secure haven for those fleeing the conflict”.

It adds that, although extensions to refugee status in the UK have provided certainty for work and life in the UK, the scheme is temporary, in line with Ukraine’s wish that its citizens return once the war ends.

Peace talks have been ongoing for months, with renewed focus placed on them by Donald Trump’s administration in Washington.

What Ukraine may have to surrender is currently unclear, as are the conditions imposed on both sides of the conflict regarding security guarantees for the country’s future.

Before the war, Alex Sivko was a PE teacher who also did security work. Scotland and Elgin represent a fresh start for him and his family.

“I fought in the Battle of Kyiv,” he says, referring to one of the first major conflicts of the war.

Millions evacuated Ukraine’s capital, while Russian forces lost heavy numbers of troops in the fighting.

“Before the war, it was an amazing life. My wife and I, we visited theatres, art galleries, cinemas. It was so nice,” Alex says.

He adds that in February 2022, “all our lives changed, for me and my family, and all Ukrainian citizens, in just one second.”

After fighting in the initial four months of the war, Alex was given permission to leave because he had three young children, one born just weeks before the conflict started.

Leaving his home city and country was “a hard decision” that the family had been preparing for over the course of a few months.

Moving to Scotland had its difficulties too, he says, such as having to learn a new language and fit in with local habits.

Most recently, Alex has been working with Forestry and Land Scotland, grading trees that will end up being planted across the country.

His family have been getting more used to living in Elgin, with Alex even joking that his now four-year-old son Foma might feasibly consider himself Scottish.

But there is a distinction between Alex and Svitlana. Alex is more open to the idea of going back to Ukraine.

“My home is Ukraine because it’s my motherland, I was born there. But my second home now is Scotland, where we feel happiness, where we feel comfortable,” he says.

“It depends on the situation in Ukraine. If the war finishes soon, we hope, we think, we will move home.”

But he adds one caveat – Russia’s intentions.

“Unfortunately, no-one can guarantee me and my family will be secure in our country with our northern neighbours,” he says.

Both Svitlana and Alex are considering their futures. More than 5.5 million people are believed to have fled Ukraine when the war started and the government in Kyiv wants them to return once peace returns.

But the safety and prospects of their families is something that will be weighing on many of their minds.