By Kontur and AFP | 2024-02-28

LONDON -- "It shows our strength, our soul, our pain," Yulia Zabrodska, a Ukrainian refugee living in London, said of an art project she is in that highlights the plight of her community.

The "Nezlamna" ("Unbreakable") project brought together 18 Ukrainian women who sought refuge in the United Kingdom after war broke out two years ago, relaying their experiences through portraits and harrowing accounts of leaving their homes and family members behind.

"All of us, we have a sense of guilt that we left our country," Zabrodska, 45, told AFP in south London.

But taking part in the project had helped show "that we are strong; we are fighting," she added.

It is the idea of Katia Duncan, a Ukrainian former banker who set up "Trafalgar Girls," a 5,000-strong online community that helps female refugees integrate into British life.

Duncan called the project "Nezlamna" but told AFP about the struggles and self-doubt endured by refugees.

"One of the questions that we've asked the women is: 'What is your story of being nezlamna, of being this unbreakable woman?'

"And they say, 'I don't feel like that. I feel like I break down every single day. And then I build myself back up.'

"A lot of women talk about the strength that they didn't think they had," she added.

'Fraught'

Duncan said the project had not only been "therapeutic" for the women involved but also for other Ukrainians "who saw themselves in these stories" and realized "that I'm not alone in feeling like this."

A major source of anxiety is the state of the conflict back home, coupled with the everyday stresses of work and parenthood, with many finding themselves as single mothers for the first time.

Explaining a common theme experienced by moms, Duncan said: "At the school gates, you have a 'how are you today?' question from a school mum, and you say: 'Yes, I'm fine. Thank you very much.'

"And then you check the [messaging app] Telegram channel and see how many explosions more there have been in the last five minutes. A lot of them are talking about how they can't function for the rest of the day.

"I think this year is much more fraught for everyone; there is a lot of uncertainty," she said of the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

While "everyone" in her group "talks about the deepest gratitude to the UK," she said, setting up a new life remains a challenge.

"Any immigrant has practical difficulties in terms of not knowing how to do basics, how to find a GP [doctor], how to enroll a kid into school."

Flower power

Zabrodska is currently living in temporary accommodation far from the school attended by her son, who has special needs.

"No one wants to rent to an unemployed mother with two children," she explained.

Some professionals have also found that their qualifications are not transferrable to the United Kingdom without extensive retraining.

"One of the women in our project, for example, is a PhD lawyer. At the moment she is choosing to work as a cleaner because that's something that she can continue while supporting her child," said Duncan, whose project can be found at www.nezlamna.me.

Reflecting this spirit of endurance was key for Nezlamna photographer Vlada Stoliarova, and was behind her choice to have each woman pose with a flower.

"Flowers are symbols of fragile beauty but they also show resilience and strength, standing tall in the harshest conditions," she said.

"Sometimes I can't go through some little problems.... because I'm tired or I'm lazy. And when you're looking at these portraits of these women and reading the bio, you understand that 'my god, I can do anything.'"