‘We are very heartbroken but we are unbroken’: Ukrainians in London on the anniversary of the Russian invasion

“It has been a really difficult year and we are emotionally so wounded,” said Natalia Ravliuk, reflecting on a year since Russia invaded her country.

The 41-year-old mother of three from Chelsea is one of the thousands of Ukrainians in London who have been relentlessly supporting the war effort, 1,500 miles away from the frontline.

Ravliuk, the co-founder of British-Ukrainian Aid and Support Ukraine/London Euromaidan, has spent the last year sending tonnes of medical supplies and humanitarian aid to her home country, while also protesting three times a week outside Downing Street.

But despite a long year, Ravliuk has not grown tired and remains strong in defiance.

“We have spent 365 days strong on our feet,” she told LondonWorld.

“We are still aiming to fight. We are going to continue to defend our country and fight for our freedom.

“We will continue defending the whole world from this tyranny. We’re not going to give up.”

More than 8,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed since the war started on February 24 2022, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Of them, 487 were children.

More than 8 million Ukrainian refugees are currently scattered across Europe, with an estimated 5.9 million internally displaced people in Ukraine.

“Our armed forces are doing a great job and we are going to continue backing them,” patriotic Ravliuk continued.

“We feel help and support from all over the world, but on the same note we didn’t receive enough equipment and arms which we asked for.

“We’re asking now for military supplies for the whole year, to do a better job on the ground.

“Everyone is amazed by Ukrainians but applause will not bring us victory.

“If we had received the ammunition and tanks sooner it would be a different situation on the ground.

“We wouldn’t have that many cities destroyed.

“In terms of our air defence we wouldn’t have had so many innocent civilians killed.

“More than half of our electrical plants and civil infrastructure are destroyed.

“We won’t stop Russians with words and applause - they understand only the language of power.”

Mykhailo Kharkovoi, a furniture manufacturer from Canary Wharf, echoes Ravliuk’s sentiments.

“There is no chance that we can achieve peace by surrendering or giving up our territories, because then they will completely destroy the whole country.

“We need more weapons.”

The 33-year-old has also spent the last year delivering supplies and equipment to the frontline.

At the start of the war Kharkovoi procured military supplies from army bases in Cardiff and Folkestone and sent them over to his country.

Since then he has set up his own official charity “You are not alone,” based in his home city of Zaporizhzhia, in southeast Ukraine, which works with hospitals and refugee shelters.

“It’s just a new reality we have to live and it won’t end because someone decides to stop it, it will continue till there is a victory,” he said reflecting on the anniversary of the invasion of his county.

Kharkovoi says his voluntary work has helped him to cope with the last year.

“Volunteers help with providing supplies, but they also provide moral support,” he said.

“When I send supplies to the soldiers I know, it helps boost their morale.

“They understand that they’re not alone and that’s the difference between the Ukrainian army and the Russian army.

“We don’t leave them alone and I think it helps a lot.

“The soldiers are watching tv on their phones and they see the protests and the support from around the world.

“It helps them feel that people aren’t forgetting about them.”

The Ukrainian community in London has organised a silent march with candles from the St Volodymyr statue in Holland Park to the Russian Embassy to pay tribute to the people of Ukraine who lost their lives and to the soldiers.

“On this day we want to outline that we are very heartbroken but we are unbroken.” Ravliuk continued.

“We will be standing to the total victory, we’re not going to give up, we’re not going to back off, we’re just going to continue fighting and asking everyone from the democratic world to join us - because Ukrainian victory means victory for the rest of the democratic world.”

The silent march will start at St Volodymyr statue in Holland Park at 4pm on Friday February 24.