A British-Iraqi woman, who spent 21 days on hunger strike to obtain a visa for the UK for her Ukrainian best friend, has spoken of her joy and disbelief after their reunion.
Rend Platings welcomed Kristina Korniiuk to her home in Cambridge on Sunday, exactly a month after she resorted to hunger striking in an attempt to speed up the visa application under the government’s Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme.
The mother-of-one had lost 10 kilograms while not eating for three weeks, before her friend was granted permission to enter Britain.
“I’m very happy, it was a bit surreal,” Mrs Platings told The National.
“[It's a case of] relief and disbelief. Disbelief in the sense like, 'wow, she’s actually here, I can’t believe it and that she’s managed to make her way safely'.
“There are a lot of concerns because she’s a woman travelling on her own; what if she meets the wrong people on the way? You hear horrible stories. So it’s really good to know that she’s safe and that takes a big weight off all of our minds because we’re family friends.
“My husband was really worried about her as well. In fact, he was sick with worry about the idea of her driving out of Kyiv. It’s just been a relief for everyone.”
Mrs Platings’ husband picked Ms Korniiuk up from Luton Airport on Sunday. He then drove her to the family home in Cambridge, which has been painted in the Ukrainian national colours in a show of solidarity with Ukrainians.
Mrs Platings, who is director of charities Mums4Ukraine and Sugarwise, and her eight-year-old daughter Samantha greeted Ms Korniiuk with hugs outside the house.
“After Kristina was in bed, my daughter asked if she was dreaming that Kristina was here,” Mrs Platings said.
“It’s a big worry when people are in Ukraine and of course Kristina still has family there, and this continues to be a worry that we can’t really predict what’s going to happen to people there. Nowhere in Ukraine is really safe.”
Mrs Platings first met Ms Kornuiiuk, 34, in a cafe during a visit to Kyiv in 2019.
Ms Korniuuk is originally from the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, but had been living in Kyiv and working as a Spanish teacher when Russia invaded in February.
After spending three weeks in the capital following the invasion, she decided to move to the west of the country to be safer.
Her parents, grandfather and other family members are still in Kyiv, while her brother is working for the military.
She said her parents wanted to remain in their homeland, despite the risks.
As she settles into her new life in the UK, she hopes to reach out to fellow Ukrainians and use her skills to help younger generations.
“I have this idea to maybe organise workshops and some readings for Ukrainian kids to give their mothers some spare time and also to do something fun and useful with Ukrainian kids. It would be really nice,” she told The National.
Asked how she reacted to the news that her friend had gone on hunger strike for her visa, she said she felt “very thankful” for her mammoth effort.
“I was a bit worried about her, because it’s not a very healthy thing to do and I was impressed and on the other hand."
Mrs Platings said she hopes the war will end soon and her friend can return to her homeland, which she plans to visit.
Throughout her hunger strike, she suffered from vomiting, dizziness and weakness. “I could barely walk down two steps and felt like I was going to collapse. I could not stay in the playground and watch my daughter.”
“I just thought about how lucky I was. I had access to clean water, I did not have to worry about being raped or bombed. I kind of had it easy compared to a lot of people.
“When people looked at me and thought, 'are you going to be ok?', I wanted them to think about those people who are waiting for visas and if they going to be ok.”
After three weeks, her body grew so weak from lack of nutrition that she was unable to attend a protest against Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Days later she received the news that the application she had made to bring her friend to the UK had been granted, which prompted her to end her hunger strike.
In the early days of the war, the UK government’s scheme for Ukrainian refugees to come to Britain was heavily criticised due to the bureaucracies applicants have to navigate and the slow pace of applications.
The latest government figures show 117,600 Ukrainians have applied for visas, with 86,100 being issued.
Ukraine war - in pictures
-
A woman rescues some of her belongings from her house in Irpin, near Kyiv, which was nearly completely destroyed by Russian bombing in late March. AP -
A driver helps a woman board a bus at a reception centre for displaced people in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. AP -
People fleeing Mariupol's Azovstal plant arrive on buses at a registration and processing area for internally displaced people in Zaporizhzhia. AFP -
A woman stands next to her home in Irpin, near Kyiv, after it was nearly completely destroyed by Russian bombing. AP -
People hold banners and shout slogans during a demonstration in support of Mariupol defenders in Kyiv, Ukraine. Getty Images -
A woman stands near her house that was destroyed by shelling in Sloboda, Chernihiv region, Ukraine. Reuters -
A mother and child in Lviv, Ukraine, wait to board transport destined for Przemysl, Poland. Getty Images -
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy claps as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson addresses the Ukrainian Parliament in Kyiv via videolink. Reuters -
Firefighters work to extinguish flames after a Russian bombardment at a park in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP Photo -
The television tower is illuminated in the national colors of the Ukrainian flag to show solidarity with the country at the Olympic Park in Munich, southern Germany. AFP -
Flooded gardens and fields are shown in Demydiv, Ukraine. To keep Russian armoured columns at bay, Ukrainian forces released water from a nearby hydroelectric dam to intentionally flood Demydiv, a village north of Kyiv. The decision was effective, but efforts to drain the area are complicated. Getty Images -
A damaged Orthodox icon is seen in the corner of local resident Yurii's heavily damaged house in Fenevychi, Ukraine. Getty Images -
Valentyna, 71, stands by her cat, who was injured in the fighting, in Fenevychi. Getty Images -
Yurii, 53, stands in his heavily damaged house in Fenevychi. Getty Images -
Evacuees from the eastern Ukraine city of Lyman, which has suffered heavy shelling, ride on a bus in Raihorodok. AFP -
A man delivers loaves of bread to a woman in the eastern Ukraine city of Lyman. AFP -
Nazar, right, boards a bulletproof bus to evacuate with his family from the eastern Ukraine city of Lyman. AFP -
A dog chases a hare by the wall of a burnt house in Fenevychi. Getty Images -
Nine-year-old Galina, right, and Nazar, 8, arrive with their families in Raihorodok. AFP -
Natalia Pototska, 43, cries as her grandson Matviy looks on in Zaporizhzhia. AP -
Hryhorii, a member of the Ukrainian military meets his wife Oksana, who fled from the Russian-occupied Novomykhailivka village, at the evacuation point in Zaporizhzhia. EPA -
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomes Denmark's Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeppe Kofod to Kyiv. Reuters -
Buildings destroyed by Russian shelling in Borodianka, in Ukraine's Kyiv region. Reuters -
Volunteers carry an elderly woman in a blanket during the evacuation of a frontline village retaken by Ukrainian forces in Kharkiv. Reuters -
A Ukrainian man walks past the turret of a Russian tank next to a destroyed petrol station in the village of Skybyn, north-east of Kyiv. AFP -
Andrii Fedorov hugs his son Makar as they are reunited in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, after the boy and his mother fled besieged Mariupol. AP -
Volunteers at the Help Ukraine Center in Lublin, south-eastern Poland. More than 3 million Ukrainian refugees are now in Poland. EPA -
Police officers deliver loaves of bread to residents in the eastern Ukrainian city of Lyman, which is being heavily shelled. AFP -
Savelii, 10, mourns at the grave of his father, who died protecting his city as a member of the Territorial Defence, in Irpin, Ukraine. EPA -
Ukrainian soliders ride on a truck to a resting place after fighting in the front line for two months near Kramatorsk. AFP -
A shopkeeper clears shelves before closing up in Sviatohirsk, eastern Ukraine, amid the Russian invasion. AFP -
Civilians who left the area near Azovstal steel plant as part of an evacuation of Mariupol arrive at temporary accommodation in Bezimenne, Donetsk region. Reuters -
Azovstal steel plant employee Valeria, who was part of an evacuation of Mariupol, hugs her son Matvey, who had earlier left the city with his relatives, as they meet again in Bezimenne, Donetsk. Reuters -
A pro-Russian troop stands guard in Bezimenne, Donetsk. Reuters -
A picture taken during a visit to Mariupol organised by the Russian military shows Russian serviceman on patrol outside the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in Enerhodar, south-eastern Ukraine. EPA -
A woman is assisted during the UN-led evacuation of the Azovstal steel plant, after nearly two months of siege warfare on Mariupol by Russia. Reuters -
Civilians gather for humanitarian aid, distributed by the Donetsk People Republic Emergency Situations Ministry in Berdyansk, in territory under the government of the Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine. AP -
Ukrainian servicemen are seen near a T-80 tank captured from Russian troops in Kharkiv region. Reuters -
A Ukrainian soldier takes a break from the conflict and tries to pet a stork in Barvinkove, Kharkiv region. Reuters -
A satellite image shows damage at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, Ukraine. AP
