In January 2022, I packed up my Kyiv apartment after a five-year stint working and living in the country where my grandparents were born.

The Ukrainian capital was my second home. I could navigate the underground metro like a local, I knew where all the good cafes were and I had made friends for life – friends I was looking forward to visiting again in the future.

However, just a couple of weeks after leaving, the war began and changed everything.

In the weeks prior to February 24, 2022, Russian troops had been amassing at the border. While it was cause for concern, aggression from Ukraine’s authoritarian neighbour was nothing new.

By that point, Ukraine had already been fighting Russia-backed separatists in the eastern Donbas region for eight years.

It had endured Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, along with the bloody Euromaidan revolution that saw the overthrow of its former pro-Russian president.

Despite this hardship, Ukraine was a country with big plans for its future. It was looking towards the West with a clear ambition to join the EU; it had one of the fastest growing tech sectors in Europe; it was the go-to location for international film crews shooting music videos and TV ads – to name but a few examples.

I had seen for myself the country Ukraine wanted to become and was excited to watch it grow, together with my Ukrainian family, friends and colleagues.

For many of them now, however, these dreams are on hold.

Instead of organising birthday parties, they’re sharing fundraiser links for drones and night vision goggles to send to the battlefield.

Instead of dancing into the early hours in one of Kyiv’s renowned techno clubs, they’re sheltering from air raids in the metro station or sitting in their freezing cold apartments without running water or power.

Instead of planning their own futures, they are on the frontlines, either as soldiers and journalists, fighting for peace, democracy and the future of their homeland.

At least one of my former colleagues has been killed. Journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna was captured and imprisoned by Russia in 2023 while reporting from occupied territories.

When her body was eventually returned to Ukraine, she had been labelled as ‘unknown man’ and there were numerous signs of torture, including burn marks on her feet from electrocution.

There are many other stories I could share of the evil Russia has inflicted on my former home, but the numbers paint a similar picture.

Ukrainians crowd under a destroyed bridge as they try to flee by crossing the Irpin River in 2022 (Image: Emilio Morenatti)

According to the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, 15,168 Ukrainian civilians have been killed and 41,534 wounded in the last four years of war.

The precise figure for military deaths is less clear, but President Zelensky stated earlier this month that the estimated figure stands at 55,000, with many more missing.

Children are also paying the price for Russia’s war. The Ukrainian government’s ‘Children of War’ portal says that approximately 650 children have been killed, 2,369 have been wounded, 2,291 are missing and a staggering 20,000 have been kidnapped.

Thousands of Ukrainians have also found new, temporary homes abroad, including more than 200,000 who came to the UK under the various visa schemes.

There is not a day goes by when I don’t think about my friends and family in Ukraine. I know that when I do return – one day, during more peaceful times – it will not be the country I left behind.

On the fourth anniversary of the full-scale invasion, I ask that you also spare a thought for the people of Ukraine.

There are many ways to support, whether that’s buying from a Ukrainian-owned business, donating to humanitarian aid charities, or just reaching out to one of your new Ukrainian neighbours here in the UK.

But, most importantly, please don’t forget. Ukraine may no longer be making news headlines, but please keep it in your hearts and minds.

© The Oxford Times