'We lived the best life in Ukraine before the war'
BBC"I feel safe, that's the most important thing."
Nataliya Korovina is talking of life in the UK, three years after Russia invaded Ukraine, an anniversary that will be an emotional day for her and her family.
She, her husband and their three children fled Lviv on 30 June 2022, and have since been living in Coventry.
"[Before that] we lived the best life, and we tried to live the best life for us and the children," she said.
"When we had to gather all our things I thought that it was like putting all our life in five suitcases."
Ms Korovina and her family continued to live in Ukraine for about six months after the full-scale invasion happened.
"We tried to cope with it, and we lived there for almost six months, just spending our time in the basement," she said.
Family photo"It was very scary, and I thought, 'It's not an appropriate place for children to live'.
"We had lots of missile attacks and it was very close to us, because our house is situated just very close to the airport and the railway station and lots of different objects.
"We heard lots and lots of explosions and it was very scary for us."
She said the trauma of the conflict in Ukraine followed them to the UK.
"Even here when we heard some sounds reminding us of the sound of sirens, we felt a little bit nervous," Ms Korovina added.
Although she would like the family to go back Ukraine, she said two of her children were at vital stages in their education.
Getty Images"My son is starting university and my other son is in year 11, just to get to some final part of their education to go back to Ukraine and to find a job," Ms Korovina said.
Ms Korovina is qualified as a multilingual educational assistant, and works for Coventry City Council supporting Ukrainian children at school.
'Dream to go back'
"I feel that I'm very very helpful, and I can see their smiling faces when they see me," she said.
"I'm not just translating but trying to teach them… I work with children who are four years old and who are 16 years old, I'm very happy."
To mark the anniversary of the invasion, on 24 February 2022, a special service is being held at Coventry Cathedral.
"It's a very emotional day, I know that it will be a big service, a big mass," said Ms Korovina.
"It will be a sad service because I know that children are preparing every heartbreaking song. They all want to live in their own country.
"It's good here, it's very nice here, we are all thankful for the UK government that we are here and safe but I think all children, they dream to go back to Ukraine."
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