Hello!" Marina smiles at me, a little shyly, in the bottom half of my phone, as I call her on WhatsApp. In fact, she doesn't stop smiling during our whole half hour interview. Above her, on my screen, is Olga who is doing the translating. She is herself a refugee from the

Donetsk region. Marina is in the village of P'yatykhatky: in eastern Ukraine. She is the lead organiser of the charity New Forest for Ukraine is working with.

 

It is less than 100 kilometres from the frontline. But both women are so polite and charming, it takes some questioning to draw the reality out of them.

 

"We hear the missiles overhead. The drones are above us the whole time. The noise is terrible. It's very frightening," Marina explains.

 

The settlement has seen its fair share of fighting. In 2022, when the Russians invaded, it came under intense rocket fire. Once it had a population a little over 300. But as the war has crept nearer, so have the refugees. There are now around 4,000. "We can help more than 500 families, but not everyone," Marina says, with a touch of sadness.

 

Marina (36) is a mum, looking after two children. Her husband is from the Luhansk region who had to leave home in 2014 at the beginning of Putin's invasion. In 2019, before the full-scale invasion, Marina felt she had to act. "My children were getting older, and growing out of their clothes. So, I bundled them up - coats and sweaters - and gave them away. People here heard about this and they came and gave donations. Soon we had opened a centre. It just grew from there!". It is already cold, as winter draws in: below zero. Russian missiles have destroyed large parts of the electricity supply system.

 

"The generators New Forest for Ukraine sent us are life-savers! They keep the lights on. Without them, we couldn't work. There would be no internet. We couldn't even make a cup of tea!." The clothes are also very welcome, but so are the toys. "When Graham, Dave, Mike and Nathan arrived with sports gear, it was great," Marina says. "The children need to play."

 

But as the war drags on, do they not lose hope? Both women are unanimous: "Hope dies last!" they insist. Marina still believes she will go back to the family home in Donetsk one day. "We just fled with our documents and a bag of clothes. We had to run. But we have a great longing to go home again." There is great gratitude for everything that the New Forest community is doing. "New Forest for Ukraine is unbelievable. We wish you all health and happiness in 2025!" says Marina, with a huge smile.

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