Scotland is like a bothy in the world, says Ukrainian family after finding safe haven in Inverness

For more than 18 months, home for three generations of the Petrov family has been three shared rooms in an Inverness hotel.

In February 2022, they fled their home in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv after being awoken in the early hours to the sounds of explosions as the Russian military launched its invasion.

Seven eventful months, five countries and 15 flights later, they finally found a safe haven – or their “bothy”, as they describe it – in Inverness.

They have now shared their remarkable story in an evocative short film, thanking Scotland and the people of Inverness, as they head to the USA .

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Andrei and Maria Petrov, their sons Illya (18), Kirill (16), Matthew (4 ) and Maria’s mother, Anna, who is in her 70s, have been living at the Craigmonie Hotel since September 2022 under a Scottish Government scheme to welcome displaced Ukrainians.

The 40-room hotel, in Annfield Road, also serves as the meeting place for the Highland International Church which has worked with the Petrovs to make the film in which they reflect on how their lives have changed dramatically.

“Like most people we worked,” Andrei says. “We had a business selling furniture. We were building a house which we had dreamed of for a long time, we served in the church and in general we made plans for our future.”

Maria says: “It was an ordinary life like for thousands of Ukrainians but one day the war forced us to leave everything behind.”

Ilya was planning to go to college while Kirill recalls his room and drum kit along and a large tree house in the garden.

When the Russian invasion began, they were awoken at 5am by explosions.

”We didn’t take much, just one backpack per person and since Andrei ran the company he went to hand out wages and documents to his employees and close up matters for an indefinite period of time,” Maria says.

They subsequently stayed in Poland for two months before going to Mexico intending to cross into the USA but Andrei, who is from Moldova, was stopped and held in a cell overseen by armed guards.

Maria and the boys crossed the border on their own hoping to be joined by Andrei but two months on, he was refused entry.

Forced to rethink their plans, they flew to Latvia and were then granted visas for Scotland which they say was their last chance.

Maria reflects movingly: “In Scotland, there are ‘houses of shelter’ in the mountains and it is a bothy – and for me, Scotland is like a ‘Bothy in the world’ because here we were safe.

“People in your country have surrounded us with every care, gave us housing, made it possible for us to work here.

“It was a place of refuge in circumstances when everything was unsettled.”

On the eve of their departure from Inverness before heading to friends in West Virginia, the Petrovs reflected on the memories they will take with them.

When they first arrived in Scotland and boarded the Inverness-bound coach at Edinburgh with other Ukrainians, they had no idea where they were going.

After looking up Inverness on the internet, they read it had the happiest people and was the fastest growing city which gave them hope although Maria recalled being worried about the weather.

“When I saw how far north it was on the map, I thought maybe it would be cold!” she said.

“There has been rain but it’s not as cold as Ukraine.”

She and Andrei, who have enjoyed walks in the area, feel Inverness has been a place of healing from the trauma following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Illya and Kirill, meanwhile, joined a couple of friends to form a band, Keep Shut – named after the signs on the hotel’s fire door.

In their shared room, they have produced a mini album, Land of Memories, which can be found via the digital music service, Spotify.

Maria recently returned to Kharkiv for a short visit during which time the city came under attack. Although their house is still there, they have no immediate plans to return to Ukraine.

Andrei voices his appreciation and gratitude to the Scottish Government, the hotel workers who patiently tried to understand their use of English, people who opened their hearts and homes and those at the church who accepted them and became their friends.

Maria adds: “For me, the big lesson of these two years is material things are not of importance. but it’s the people you meet along the way.”

The film can be found via the Highland International Church’s Facebook page.

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