Published on: 2026-05-27
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
On the evening of February 23, 2022, after work, Doctor Inna Soldatenko picked up her daughter from school, prepared dinner, and wrote the text of tomorrow’s lecture for her students. The next morning, she was awoken by explosions
On the day when Russian troops began a full-scale invasion of the territory of Ukraine, Inna lost everything she had strived for in life for decades: a successful career as a rheumatologist, a home, and a sense of security.
Four years later in Kharkiv, explosions are still being heard. Inna is still practicing medicine, but now in London, helping other refugees find their place in Great Britain.
“Before the war, I thought I had achieved everything I wanted,” he says. “I had a career, a family, a home… I never thought about leaving.”
Inna is one of more than 260 thousand Ukrainians who found refuge in the United Kingdom after the start of the war. Her story is an example of the resilience and transformative power of human fate, as well as evidence that it works when qualified refugees are given the opportunity to integrate into a new environment for them.
The path into the unknown
When the war began, Inna and her family—two daughters, parents, and a cat—left Kharkiv, taking only documents and the bare necessities with them: they believed they would return home within a few days.
The journey took more than 26 hours – they crossed Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania, everywhere encountering a kind and hospitable welcome from complete strangers who shared food with them and offered advice.
“I still remember everything,” says Inna about the volunteers who helped them on the way. “They became part of our family.”
In Bulgaria, Inna met with friends she had met many years ago in London. The family arrived in the UK in May 2022 as part of the “Homes for Ukraine” program – a public initiative under which ordinary Britons provide housing to Ukrainians and the opportunity to start life anew.
Life from scratch
Like many people forced to flee to another country, Inna faced obstacles on her way back to her profession, including a language barrier and difficulties with recognition of professional qualifications. She began working in an administrative position within the structure of the National Health Service in southeast London.
Inna’s new colleagues have become what she calls her “working family”: they helped her with English, encouraged her, and persuaded her to try to pass the exams necessary for working as a doctor in the United Kingdom.
“They believed in me much more than I believed in myself,” admits Inna. As a result, she passed all the necessary exams and once again became a rheumatologist.
Of more than 260 thousand Ukrainians who arrived in the United Kingdom since February 2022, more than 60 thousand are now employed in various sectors of the economy.
Helping others
This story of Inna in the new place did not end here: together with other medical workers among the refugees, she took part in the creation of the Ukrainian Medical Charity – a nationwide network that helps doctors, nurses, and other specialists from Ukraine find work within the UK healthcare system.
“Refugees are ready to be of benefit to our country, and we must also accept them,” says Kathleen, a nurse-rheumatologist and colleague of Inna.
A recent refugee from Kharkiv now feels at home in England.
“When you are forced to run, it’s as if your roots are being cut,” says Inn. “The people around me have now helped me grow new ones. This kindness and newly regained stability change everything in my life.”
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