At 6am on February 24 this year, Veronika Skliarova woke up the sound of explosions.

The 34-year-old, from Ukraine, was on holiday with her partner, Sasha, and her sons from a previous relationship, Sasha, eight, and Danya, five.

They’d taken a trip from their hometown of Kharkiv to Skhidnytsya, a mountain resort not far from the Polish border, for a few days of quality time together.

Veronika knew the Russians had assembled troops to attack her country, but assumed, like the rest of the world, that it was an empty threat.

But that day, her life changed forever. She spent much of the months that followed travelling around Europe with her children, desperately searching for safety.

Now, as she celebrates Christmas, she’s finally back in Ukraine – and despite everything she’s been through, she’s feeling positive for the future.

She tells Metro.co.uk: ‘I’m looking forwards. This year was difficult – but it could have been so much worse.

‘It will be a time to reflect on what we’ve been through, and how we can start to enjoy life again.’

When the war broke out, Veronika had been enjoying her family getaway after a busy time at work.

She said, ‘I’m the director of the biggest arts and culture festival in Kharkiv and I wanted to take a break with my family.

‘We packed lightly – we took a couple of backpacks and some toys for the boys.

‘We knew that Putin had threatened to attack but we didn’t really believe it – he’d been saying the same thing for years.’

But Veronika remembers being woken up by bombing in the early hours of February 24.

She says: ‘It was so loud and terrifying. You could see the planes in the sky overhead. We went down to the basement to hide. We tried to keep the kids calm but they were scared and confused.

‘The air raids continued for the next few days, but it felt surreal. We couldn’t believe we were really at war.’

Scared for her family, Veronika called her parents back home in Kharkiv – the second largest city in Ukraine. The fighting there has been described as some of the deadliest battles to take place in the country.

‘I could hear the explosions going off when I called them,’ she says. ‘I asked if they knew if my apartment had been bombed, but it was too dangerous for them to go and check.’

With Kharkiv in chaos, Veronika knew she couldn’t go back home. She waited a few more days – knowing how busy the borders would be – but on March 2, it was time to leave.

At the time, Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had imposed martial law, stating that men between the ages of 18 and 60 must stay in Ukraine to help the war effort. This meant that while Veronika and her sons could flee to Poland, her boyfriend, Sasha, had no choice but to stay.

While Sasha went to a nearby town to volunteer with an aid charity, Veronika took a bus to the border.

‘Saying goodbye was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do,’ she says. ‘We promised that if we saw each other again, we’d get married.

‘The boys and I only had the clothes we had for our holiday – it was so scary.’

At the Polish border, Veronika waited with hundreds of refugees, mostly women and children.

She adds: ‘Everyone was scared and tired – but luckily, after seven hours, we made it through. I have a friend who lives in Warsaw who was waiting for us.

‘It was a six hour drive back to his house. By the time we got there, I was exhausted and just in a state of shock.’

In her first few days in Poland, Veronika tried to remain calm for her children. Her youngest son, Danya, was becoming ill due to stress, and they missed their father, who was back in Ukraine.

Veronika said: ‘They wanted to know why we couldn’t go home – but I didn’t know how to explain that the reason was because our home didn’t exist anymore.’

In the months that followed, Veronika and her children moved around Europe, calling upon the kindness of friends who offered places to stay. First, the family moved to the Czech Republic for a few weeks, then to Germany where they stayed for three months. Next, they spent two months in France, followed by a further two months in Croatia.

Thankfully in March, Veronika’s parents also evacuated. She says: ‘I’m very close to my parents, and they adore their grandchildren.

‘They didn’t want to leave Ukraine, but I was getting increasingly worried for their safety. They eventually joined me in Germany and have settled there. It was amazing to see them again.’

While her children weren’t missing much school due to it being the summer holidays, they struggled being away from home.

Veronika said: ‘They didn’t have their favourite toys, they weren’t with their friends, and they didn’t speak the local languages. It was really hard on them.’

She says her overriding emotion at the time was fear. She had no idea what would happen to her country, to herself, and to the people she loved.

But she channelled that fear into creativity. She says: ‘I started a charitable project with other artists, which offered musical therapy to Ukrainians affected by the war.

‘We were able to send therapists out to towns and villages that had been occupied. It was a way to help people begin to heal.’

Throughout the invasion, Veronika had been closely following the news and, by September, she felt that she could return to Ukraine.

She says: ‘There had been continuous months without shelling, and so it felt like a safe decision.

‘The work that I was doing meant it would be best for me to be in Ukraine, and I wanted the boys to feel settled again.

‘We were living like nomads, going from one place to another, and it wasn’t fair on them.

‘I didn’t really know how I’d feel when we travelled back after so long. Life had become so uncertain – I didn’t know if we’d be there for a few weeks or months. It was very strange.’

Veronika reunited with partner, Sasha, and they settled with her children in Lviv, a town close to the Polish border.

She says, ‘On one of the first days, we went to a cafe that we’d been to many times before.

‘It felt completely normal – the supermarkets were full, restaurants and shops were open.

‘But then you’d turn a corner to another street, and it would be utter devastation.

‘I long to go back to Kharkiv, but it’s not safe there. Thankfully, I don’t know too many people who died in the war, but I was sad to learn that the house my grandparents lived in had been occupied by Russian soldiers.

‘They died years ago – before the war – but they’re buried near their house. I hate to think that soldiers were in their space. I find that very difficult.’

While there were dark moments, there was happiness too. As promised, Sasha proposed to Veronika when they reunited.

She says: ‘He got down on one knee, and said lots of lovely things. Of course, I said yes. We hope to get married next year.’

And Veronika is determined to celebrate Christmas.

She says: ‘There’s a big Christmas tree in the town square which is lovely, although we’re sad that there are no Christmas markets this year.

‘We’ve got a Christmas tree, and presents for the boys. My parents are still in Germany, but we’re celebrating with friends.’

Although the daily blackouts have meant Veronika has had to be organised.

‘It’s hard to cook Christmas dinner when the power keeps going out!’ she laughs. ‘My friends and I are each making something, and thankfully, we have a schedule, so we know when there will be no electricity.

‘My dad also brought me a light that you can charge up, so we won’t be sitting in darkness.’

And Veronika says that it will be a time to reflect. She says: ‘As long as we’re with people we love, we’ll be able to celebrate.

‘This year has been traumatic, but we know how lucky we are to have made it through.

‘When war broke out, I felt scared and angry. But now, I’m feeling optimistic for 2023.’

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