Olena Mikheionok fled Ukraine’s occupied Luhansk region with her son in July 2025 after a bomb destroyed their apartment. Refugees at Home linked them to Exeter’s Browning family, who offered them a room; her son now attends nursery and she is learning English at college.
After the apartment was destroyed, Mikheionok and her son lived in shelters, then stayed with her sister’s family in a small two-bedroom flat. She said the past was too painful to discuss and that she was trying to adapt, integrate and find work in England.
Refugees at Home says it has placed 7,895 people in homes across the UK since 2016. Its chief operating officer said guests have come from more than 100 countries and arrive in the UK fleeing war, violence and persecution.
