So she moved to London from Ukraine\u2019s southern port city of Odesa in October 2022 and is now studying to be a lawyer. \u201cIt is extremely difficult to achieve something in Ukraine because of all the nepotism and corruption,\u201d said Kulia, 21.<\/p>\n
Whether Ukrainians will be able to stay in their adopted homelands remains to be seen.<\/p>\n
Temporary protected status afforded to Ukrainian refugees by the Council of the European Union will expire in March 2027, although it has suggested a transition to a more permanent status after that.<\/p>\n
In the U.S., the Uniting for Ukraine<\/a> humanitarian program rolled out by the Biden administration was suspended for new applicants after President Donald Trump took power in January 2025, and applications for humanitarian parole extensions were frozen, leaving many Ukrainians in legal limbo. Many now fear they could soon face deportation back to an active war zone<\/a>.<\/p>\n Blazhevych said that after temporary legal status expired for her and her sons in July 2025, she lost the right to work and survived on tinned food while her extension was pending, and she ran up a large debt.<\/p>\n That status has subsequently been extended until July 2027, <\/strong>but she said the new rules were designed to make \u201cpeople give up and leave, but I have nowhere to go.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI saw the death tolls,\u201d she said of her hometown of Kostyantynivka, which has been under evacuation orders for over a year now. \u201cChildren are not supposed to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n While Kulia, the law student, said she had returned to Odesa to visit, she didn\u2019t \u201cfeel at home in Ukraine anymore, <\/strong>at least not in the same way as in the U.K., because this is where I formed my personality.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUkraine feels like it was a different life, a different reality, and sometimes I don\u2019t even identify myself with that reality anymore,\u201d she said, adding that while some of her relatives remained in Odesa, \u201cit is hard to stay in touch with them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI am ashamed to tell my family about any happy moments in my life,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause I know that their reality is so different to mine.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Mariia](\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-03\/260309-Mariia-Kulia-rs-948473.jpg\")
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