After fleeing the war-torn country, Jez Myers tells us how he and his wife, Maria, are helping to share Ukraine’s stories and help displaced Ukrainians settle in the UK.
Manchester-born Jez Myers fell in love with Ukraine while visiting eight years ago – a journey that led him to move there and meet his future wife, Maria Romanenko. But when Russia invaded in 2022, the couple’s lives were turned upside down, forcing them to flee and resettle in Manchester. Now, the couple are dedicated to supporting refugees in the city and beyond, doing all they can to help those facing even greater hardships.
There was no doubt in Jez and Maria’s minds about fleeing Ukraine when Russia first invaded: “I’m Jewish, so my entire life I’ve been told at the start of anything bad, you pack your bags and get out of there; you don’t wait to see what happens. Ultimately, I’m only alive today because of my ancestors who did exactly that. Maria is also a very prominent journalist who knew and had written about what was happening in the country, so leaving was no question.”
Jez reflects on the journey: “It’s not a happy story and it was a somewhat epic journey – it’s also nothing like you see in the movies! Getting to the border was an ordeal in itself; it included a 10-hour drive from Kyiv to Lviv and then a further six hours to travel the 70km to the border. Once there, we had to queue in sub-zero temperatures for 23 hours with no food, water, or toilet facilities. We were surrounded by soldiers pointing guns at us and saw people getting crushed to death.
“We eventually got into the UK after the Home Office lost Maria’s visa and detained her. We had to leverage the press to get back into the country – at one point the BBC were tweeting live updates of our whereabouts!”
The couple don’t take their experience for granted. They know that, compared to many others, they were in a fortunate position when they fled, as Jez explains: “We were incredible lucky because we had friends, family, money, and a house waiting for us in Manchester. A lot of the people we saw at the border had their entire life in a single plastic bag. This is why we do our talks; we had it as good as anybody could possibly have it, but we still had an awful time. Everything we do is undoubtedly powered by survivor’s guilt. We’re grateful that we have this platform and we’re able to talk about our story and tell the stories of those who can’t.”
With years of community work in Manchester under his belt – and several awards to show for it – Jez was already embedded in the city’s charity and volunteer networks. This proved invaluable when it came to supporting new arrivals: “We asked ourselves ‘what do Ukrainians need when they get here?’ and the answer is, of course, that they need to understand Manchester. You can’t feel at home in a new city if you don’t understand the history, culture, and the people.
“The government does provide some assistance, but there’s so much more required to help people to settle and thrive in a new area; that’s where our tours come in. To date, we’ve done them for over 2,500 people, which is around 40% of all displaced Ukrainians in Greater Manchester. We now do them in Liverpool and we’re about to announce one in Newcastle. Over the next 12 months, we hope to expand rapidly and help a lot more Ukrainians to settle in.”
Aside from the tours, Jez and Maria are helping Ukrainians in the UK pick up skills to be able to go home and help with the rebuild of the country. They also tour with their talk ‘How Not to Flee a War’ which is part comedy, but also extremely serious, where they speak about their journey and the lives of their friends who have been killed.
As well as tours of Manchester, the couple lead tours to Ukraine. The next one is the ‘Jew-ish Tour’ which will run from 10th to 14th September and will explore the city of Lviv’s culture, resilience, and heritage: “Ukraine has a rich Jewish history so there’ll be a dedicated space for the Jewish and Holocaust history, as well as what Judaism looks like there today. But we won’t be going to shul and only eating kosher food, it’s Jew-ish! The tour will also include learning about the history of Lviv and the impact of Russia’s invasion on everyday life.”