Linlithgow dentist reunited with her parents after they escaped war in Ukraine

Anastasia Martin (42), who works at Divine Dental on Linlithgow High Street, had an emotional reunion with her parents Luda (69) and Viktor (76) Rozovenko last week after they endured the horrors of war at their summer home near Chernihiv, which they had initially fled to at the start of the Russian invasion from their home in Kyiv.

Speaking after being reunited with her parents at Waverley Station, Anastasia, although relieved, was still thinking of her other family members, friends and fellow Ukrainians still caught up in the war.

She said: "I applied for a Scotland super sponsor scheme visa for my parents and they got it in a week. They were waiting for a Home Office reply on the visa in Germany and once they got their visas they immediately came here.

“Later, once we are a bit more settled, I can describe our experience with the visa and settlement process which might be interesting. But the support in Scotland has been absolutely amazing.

“I felt relieved and happy once we were reunited but there is so much human tragedy and pain back in Ukraine and we feel we have to do more and continue our efforts to help more then ever.”

Luda and Viktor endured a terrifying escape, coming under attack in Lviv.

Anastasia said: “They started their journey from their village on roads which were already checked and mines removed. Since the Russians left it was impossible to move around as they mined everything.

"My parents reached Kyiv, which was very empty, like a ghost city, and took an overnight train to Lviv where they were bombed at the railway station, narrowly escaping in the underground crossing.

"Next was a 20 hour bus journey from Lviv to Warsaw, followed by a 12 hour bus journey to Hamburg where they stayed with our friends until the visa was issued.”

Anastasia also revealed that her parents had no direct contact with Russian soldiers who were only 3km away, as they hid in their cellar for two months, with three weeks of constant shelling twice a day, at 4am and in the evening.

She added that her parents feel “hatred and disgust” towards the Russian soldiers, “which will be passed on to the future generations and never forgotten”.