I was born in a bomb shelter, now I run my dream business

Maryna Korolova was nine months pregnant when War in Ukraine began

She gave birth to her daughter Emmanuelle in a bomb shelter while she, her husband and two young boys left the capital, Kyiv, in 2022.

They arrived at Wales with nothing but their most basic items, having left their home behind and a construction business.

But now the family runs a cafe on the high road of Abergavenny, Monmouthshire and said the city people were mostly after its success.

“ [local community] He hugged us, he called with us, we prayed with us – we feel welcome here, ”Maryna said.

She is one of the three Ukrainians, everyone now running businesses in Wales, who have spoken to BBC News on three-year anniversary Russia’s occupation in Ukraine.

Maryna previously left her hometown in Donetsk in 2014 after riots in the Donbas region.

“I know how to survive and know what it’s to start life again,” Maryna said BBC Cymru fyw.

Upon arriving at Wales, Maryna Vadym’s husband decided to try to start a new business.

Maryna did not believe it was possible, but her husband’s optimism encouraged her to continue.

“My husband said,” We have to try. We have to try for our children, “she said.

With only £ 40 to buy a small juice, they initially opened a stall of orange juice in the Abergavenny market room in January 2023.

Maryna and Vadym began traveling through Wales to sell their juices, participating in the Royal Welsh Show, Hay Festival and Abergavenny food festival.

In June 2024, they opened their cafe, squeezing, on the high path of Abergavenny.

Maryna said much of their business success was in support of the local community.

“We have so many friends in Abergavenny – they love us and support us,” she said.

“I will be forever grateful to them.”

Yaroslav and Oksana Izviekov also fled Ukraine and arrived at Wales with their three children in June 2022.

Coupleifi ran their coffee stay in Ukraine and had just begun renovating their first coffee shop when the war began.

“Our dream was to have a real cafe, but we had to leave everything behind,” Yaroslav said.

The family lived in a hotel for seven months before finding a home.

They then decided to follow their dream to open their own coffee shop once again.

Coupleifi spent months looking for the right building, finishing renovations themselves and learning how to run a business in Wales.

“It was very difficult to open a business in a place when you know nothing about the rules and laws,” he said.

Two years later, their dream came true when Cafe Zerno opened on the high road Wrexham in September 2024.

“My biggest fear was that no one would appear … But we’ve had so much community support,” Yaroslav said.

“Now we have rules, people we see every day.”

Someone Yaroslav hopes to become a regular visitor is the owner of Wrexham AFC Ryan Reynolds.

The Hollywood actor visited Zerno as he welcomed in Wrexham.

The experience, according to Yarolsv, was “memorable” and “amazing”.

“We were full of admiration and so excited to see him.”

Yaroslav said Reynolds was “too easy to chat” after they shared a coffee and talked about his home in Ukraine.

Volodymyr Pavliichuk opened his restaurant Ruta Kitchen in Neath on January 31 with his close friends Volodymyr Ivliev and Ihor Tereshnyi.

Ukrainan -born businessman has lived in Wales with his family for the last five years, but his two business partners left the war in Ukraine with their families.

He said their business was not meant to win, but rather to create an escape for Ukrainian people in the local area of ​​Neath.

“We [also] He wanted a place to be an ambassador of our culture for the local people, “he said.

“We offer jobs for refugees from Ukraine who cannot speak English and therefore cannot find work anywhere else.”

Volodymyr said he believed that the most important thing was that the people of Wales and Ukraine could gather to accompany and share their cultures together.