'People ask me if the Ukraine war is still going on'

Ukrainians and aid workers in Gloucestershire have expressed surprise that the war with Russian is continuing, with some suggesting the conflict has slipped from some people's consciousness.

Mariia Hamal and her family came to Gloucestershire in 2022 as refugees.

She was 15 when the war started four years ago and said she feels weary about how long it's gone on and that her Ukrainian identity is slipping away.

"It hurts so much. It's your people and your country" she said. "People ask me is it OK to ask 'is there still a war going on in Ukraine?'"

The student said she feels torn as she "absolutely loves" the UK.

"As time passes people forget about what's happening, " she said.

"I still think that it should still be on the front pages because people keep dying."

Volunteers who regularly deliver aid to Ukraine echo her thoughts.

Laura Bullivant, from Gloucester, regularly delivers lorries full of goods from the UK to Ukraine, and said: "At the start it was all you read and it was quite overwhelming, but fatigue has set in."

She added that interest in the war appears to have declined.

When Russia began its full-scale invasion of the country in 2022, there was a flurry of donations and deliveries, but they say interest has slowed.

Bullivant works with William Jackson, the Ukraine Lead for the Rotary Club, based in Gloucester, sorting donations including medical supplies, ambulances and body armour.

"Sometimes I'll go and do talks and people will say 'is the war still going on?'" said Jackson, adding that "people's knowledge at the moment is very poor."

He said he feels Ukraine is not only fighting for it's own freedom, but the freedom of the wider European continent.

"Russian ships are around the UK constantly looking at our internet and infrastructure. Planes are going into our airspace," Jackson said.

The government recently said Russia conducted a covert operation over British cables and pipelines in the UK.

Ukrainians living in the UK have just had their visas extended for another two years.

Anna Danilchenko has been living in Stroud with her husband and teenage son since 2022.

"Why are you here? Some people even ask this question because they think that everything is good and you can return back," she said.

The family is originally from Kyiv and hasn't been back since the war for fear of their own safety.

"I live in two realities, one is here, you have to manage your life here and the other one is what is happening with your relatives away."

The number of casualties is hard to measure but in February this year, President Zelensky said 55,000 soldiers have been killed since the start of the war.

But according to other Ukrainian sources, which the BBC has cross-referenced, the number of Ukrainians killed could be as high as 200,000.

The number of Russian casualties is harder to measure but is estimated to be considerably more by the British government.

The number of civilians who have died is less clear but Russia launched its deadliest drone attack in months this week, killing 17 people.

As of March 2026, the UK government has committed up to £21.8bn for Ukraine since the full-scale invasion.

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