A woman who fled the Great War in Ukraine in the early days of the Russian invasion hopes the opening of one of south Wales' oldest pubs will help boost the local economy.
Vladyslava Krapyvka left her home in Kyiv with her youngest son after the Russian invasion in 2022. She ended up in the city of Newport in the south-east of Wales, and in a year and a half she rented The Lamb pub.
The town center pub closed in 2023 but welcomed visitors back on St David's Day on March 1 this year. There was live music every weekend, the pub was celebrating its 160th anniversary.
Vladislava managed the renovation of the building, which is an architectural monument of the II category. £25,000 (over $34,000) was raised by the woman's friends for the reconstruction.
PHOTO BY THE LAMB Image caption The Lamb in Bridge Street has reopened with celebrations to mark its 160th anniversary
Vladyslava says she immediately noticed the pub when she first arrived in Newport.
"I like Newport, I see a lot of potential in this place. The residents of Newport are friendly and smiling," said Krapyvka.
"But the center of Newport is looking run down, I would like to change that, there are a lot of hard working people here and they need to have somewhere they can come and be well served."
Then Newport's Tiny Rebel Brewery announced it was closing its High Street bar at the end of March, citing lower footfall and higher costs.
The Lamb pub now stocks craft ales, lagers, ciders and other spirits from Wales and the rest of the UK. There will also be alcohol from Ukraine.
"One of the vodkas is really unique, but I won't sell it, because the factory where it was produced no longer exists, it was in the bombed-out area," says Vladyslava.
"I also have a bottle of champagne from Bakhmut, where there was a sparkling wine factory, that sparkling wine is no more, at least not yet."
After arriving in Newport, Vladyslava worked as a teacher's assistant at a local school, and then as a military translator.
Her parents and two older sons, both now students, remained in Ukraine and she has not seen them for over two years.
"Every day I look at the news and talk to my relatives, they try to calm me down and tell me that everything is fine."
"Of course, it's very, very sad, people in Great Britain are very friendly and have a lot of compassion, but they still have a hard time understanding what's going on in Ukraine now."
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Vladyslava says that returning customers to The Lamb are happy that the pub has reopened.
Her family once owned a pub in Kyiv, but Vladyslava says that pubs in Ukraine are "very different" to British pubs.
"We do not have "regulars", visitors do not often communicate with the person behind the bar."
"I like that people here really want to get to know you, and when you do, you're almost like family."
Vladyslava admits that it "pains" for her to think about what will happen when her three-year residence permit expires next year. But she also adds that it was "important" for her not to sever ties with Ukraine.
"After the start of the war, I stopped making any plans. I just realized that my plans could be destroyed at any moment."
"When I see a door of opportunity, I open it. If they close, I'll go to the other door. I don't have a single second to regret, because at any moment everything can be destroyed."
"This is probably the experience of all Ukrainians. You just have to live in the present day, because the next day may never come."
