Good Evening, We Are From Ukraine
In April 2022, Valentyna Romanchuk fled Kharkiv and arrived in Moorhaven, a secluded village in Devon. As more Ukrainians followed, I began photographing this growing community to explore how two distant worlds had converged. I wanted to understand how people rebuilt their lives, what it felt like to settle into a stranger’s home in a part of the UK that had voted to leave the EU, and whether, if we can offer this to Ukrainian refugees, we could do the same for all refugees.
Since Russia’s invasion, 147,500 Ukrainians have arrived in the UK. It’s the first time since World War II that the British public have welcomed refugees into their homes en masse.
80% of the sponsors who participated in the scheme said they were glad they did. Another 70% said they would host again and be open to receiving a refugee from another country. The war in Ukraine has seen seven times the amount of people come into Europe than during the 2015 migration crisis, but without the same political backlash or number of fatalities en route.
Over the two years I spent documenting this community, the people I photographed — both the refugees and their British hosts — showed me that there is a real possibility for belonging, healing, and humor after war, if people are received with empathy. When given the opportunity and resources to care for others, people will open their homes to those in need. What happened in this village rewrites the resounding anti-immigrant narrative that has been coming out of Britain over the last decade and shows that both sides benefit when we are open to others.
The title is taken from a song that has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance since the invasion. They are also a testament to the imprint this small community has left on an otherwise quiet, remote place.