Displaced Ukrainians in Inverness face another Christmas away from their war-torn homeland
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Christmas is approaching and there is palpable excitement among the children at a newly-opened hub in Inverness city centre for displaced Ukrainians.
One young boy chats animatedly in excellent English about his favourite school subject, geography, and his love of maps while a 10-year-old fan of heavy metal and the late Kurt Cobain is persuaded to give a short – and impressive – performance on a guitar.
Boisterous, enthusiastic and delightful, they resemble any ordinary group of youngsters.
But their circumstances are far from ordinary.
It is the second Christmas and New Year away from their war-torn homeland, separated from their fathers and other family members by thousands of miles.
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Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, they and their mothers fled their the country and ultimately arrived in the Highlands, some only discovering their final destination as the coach headed up the A9.
Initially, about 750 Ukrainians came to the Highlands although some have since returned to their homeland while of those who remain in Inverness, about 100 are living in two hotels under a Scottish Government scheme to welcome Ukrainians.
As they anxiously follow events in Ukraine from afar, the outlook seems desperate.
Winter has set in. The counter-offensive against Russia's occupying forces has ground to a halt and there are fears that vital EU and US funding will not be forthcoming.
It is a life in a limbo for Valentyna Kalyta (37) who shares a city centre hotel room with her two sons, aged 11 and eight, while her husband remains in Ukraine.
She describes the terror of rockets and bombs flying over their town near Dnripo and the fear as the walls of their fifth-floor corner apartment shook from the impact of bombs falling 40 kms away.
She recalls taping up the windows to guard against flying glass as well as having a bag packed with a change of clothes and documents at the ready.
Such was the stress that on one occasion her legs would not work and the situation also began to have an impact on the boys.
After three months, she decided it was too dangerous to remain and left with the boys, initially staying in the Netherlands and then coming to Scotland.
"Inverness is a beautiful place," Valentyna reflects. "It is a safe place.
"I am thankful to be here and so are my boys."
Valentyna, who previously worked in accounts at a building company. is currently working part-time in a retail store and improving her English.
"All my life, I had plans," she says.
"I planned for many years what I would do, where I will go, where I will work, what I will have.
"Right now, I only live one day at a time."
The boys are doing well at school and study online at Ukrainian school in the evenings.
They have been invited to spend Christmas Day with the family of one of her son's classmates.
As Valentyna ponders what 2024 will bring, she does not believe there will be an end to the war and worries for her husband.
Halyna Torin and her husband, Mehmet Ali, have been living with their toddler son Emir in a room at the Craigmonie Hotel for more than a year.
Before the war, Halyna taught violin in a music college and played in various orchestras as well as owning two baby stores in Cherkassy, a city by the Dnipro River in central Ukraine.
She and her husband, a Turkish citizen, left behind her mother and grandmother and 20-year-old son although he could have accompanied Halyna as she has multiple sclerosis.
He husband has managed to find work to support the family in Inverness and Ukraine although the hours are long and the wages small.
Halyna managed a short heartbreaking visit back to Ukraine recently.
"It was a very scary time," she says. "It was not a very good situation.
"I went to see my grandmother as she is not well and she asked me to go and see her for the last time."
Helen MacRae, of the support group, Highland for Ukraine, is struck by the resilience of the women who are regarded as being displaced as opposed to the status of refugee which enables them to work.
"I have such respect for them," she said.
"They have left their homeland and been thrown into a country where they don't know the culture or the language.
"The children are attending school and doing really well – and picking up the language. They are very enthusiastic."
But despite their resilience, many still feel a sense of isolation and recently Highland for Ukraine helped to open a hub and Christmas pop-up shop in Strothers Lane.
It enables the mums to meet for English conversation classes and chat while their children are supervised in another room.
"It is not just about them learning everyday English – it is about the fact they are helping each other," Helen says. "They have so much fun in these classes. You hear laughter and giggles.
It provides some temporary distraction amid the worrying situation back home.
"They cannot escape what is going on at home because it is all over social media," Helen explains..
"There is such worry – their children's fathers are still in Ukraine."
There are now plans to set up a singing group and the possibility of getting a yoga teacher and medicinal herbalist are also being explored.
"The hub has made a difference but we need to do more," Helen says.
