Mariia Brusova has been displaced twice. First, in 2014, when Russian proxy forces invaded and occupied her home city of Luhansk in Eastern Ukraine. Then in 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion, targeting her new home, Kharkiv.
Like the majority of six million Ukrainians, who have become refugees since February 2022, Mariia fled Russian missiles without knowing where she would end up. Eventually, she settled in Germany, where she has been living with her teenage son ever since. She was able to get her Ukrainian degree recognized and now works as a nurse in Germany. ‘Even if I wanted to return, I wouldn’t be able to have a decent life in Ukraine,’ she said. ‘Even if Luhansk is liberated, it will still be unlivable in for at least 10 years.’
The Ukrainian refugees being called home
The millions who fled Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 are now facing pressure to return. Olga Tokariuk speaks to some caught in a difficult dilemma.
The World Today
Published 10 March 2025 — 4 minute READ
Image — English lessons were offered to some of the 240, 000 Ukrainian refugees who settled in Britain since 2022. But as Ukraine's demographic problems worsen, many now face pressure to return. Photo: Andy Soloman/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images.
