Ukrainians’ fears over ceasefire

UKRAINIAN refugees living in the Henley area say they would not trust a ceasefire deal negotiated by US president Trump and Vladimir Putin.

But they have urged their government to come to an agreement to end the fighting, even if it comes at the cost of the mineral-rich Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the East.

One refugee hit out at the US President for being “too subservient” to the Russian leader and called out his use of “loud slogans” as being disconnected from reality.

Talks between Trump and Putin in Alaska took place eight days before Ukraine marked its independence from the Soviet Union last Sunday.

The summit, which was held in Anchorage earlier this month, failed to result in a ceasefire, with the US President inviting Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House two days later.

Since the summits, Trump has backed Putin’s demands for full control of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, rich in coal, iron, manganese ore and Lithium, as a condition for ending the war.

However, he told Zelensky the US would help guarantee Ukraine’s security in any deal, without specifying the extent of any assistance.

Since the war started on February 24, 2022, around 400 Ukrainians have fled their war-torn home to South Oxfordshire. They left behind the life they once knew in the hopes of finding security in and around Henley.

By July 31, 2025, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights recorded 49,431 civilian casualties in Ukraine since February 24, but the number is believed to be higher.

Tatiana Tyutenko, 51, left Kyiv with her daughter Masha on March 7, 2022, after a week of living under the sounds of explosions.

She left behind her husband, Dmitro, and brothers.

“There was hope that this nightmare could not last long”, she said, “But I realised that I was incredibly scared for my child’s life.

“I stopped sleeping and after three sleepless nights, I decided that my daughter, who was nine at the time, would leave the country while my husband would stay.”

She came to the UK and stayed with her friend’s neighbour, who was taking in families from those fleeing the war-torn country, and got a job at the Nettlebed Creamery, where she worked for two years.

Her daughter, now in her teens, has moved on to year nine at Shiplake College, while her husband and her brothers back home work at “economically important facilities”.

She said: “Almost all of my family members have stayed in Ukraine. My husband and brothers so far have not been drafted into the army, but I live in constant fear that if the war continues, they may end up at the front.

“Before the war, we were really happy in Ukraine. I had my own business, and my husband worked in a good company as an economist.

“The war destroyed everything we had. We lost our jobs, our status and our savings. We are now building our life from scratch, and I would like people to understand how difficult this reality is for us.”

Mrs Tyutenko believes it is a good time to make concessions and come to an agreement, even with the loss of territory.

She said: “I, like all Ukrainians, would like our country to have our former borders but I also realise that this is an impossible thing.

“From the very beginning of Trump’s presidency, it was clear all his speeches were just loud slogans that had nothing to do with reality.

“Every day, a great many of our best people die in the war. Even in my inner circle there are casualties.

“It’s time to stop this nightmare by any means necessary. There is less and less hope for victory and the real situation is getting scarier every day.”

Trump has called on the two heads of state to meet in a three-way summit to discuss a ceasefire.

However, Mrs Tyutenko has little faith in the possibility of any positive outcome from such a meeting, calling Trump’s attitude towards Russia and Putin “too subservient”.

“I very much doubt that a meeting between the leaders is possible at this stage”, she said, “Putin is absolutely a behind-the-scenes player and he will never act directly and honestly. He will stall as much as possible so our country loses all its resources.

“Trump’s attitude to-wards Russia and Putin is too subservient and he sees us as a boring problem. All the horror we experience every day is completely beyond his reach.”

She questioned the security of her country in the event of a ceasefire deal.

She said: “It is simply impossible to stop a bloodthirsty killer who has no honour, dignity or nobility. Putin will achieve his goal by any means, including lying and the most unworthy deeds.

“It is possible the presence of peacekeeping forces from America, Great Britain and the European Union will not allow the aggressor to act as confidently as they would like.

“In any case, the main thing is to stop the deaths of our men at the front and the destruction of our cities and civilians.”

Gulia Topunkova, 27, who lives in Henley, works in customer services for a pharmaceutical company.

She moved from Druzhkivka in Ukraine in September 2022, leaving her family members behind.

She believes trilateral talks will not take place and Trump would negotiate a deal in the Russian leader’s favour.

“I don’t trust Trump and I don’t think he has Ukraine’s best interests at heart,” she said. “Trump changes his mind way too often and he showed that he has way too much respect for Putin and I think he would negotiate this deal to get the most for Russia.”

While Ms Topunkova is not opposed to handing over the two regions, she would be against demilitarisation due to a lack of protection for her home country.

She said: “I’d be okay to give away the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as they’ve been demolished and need huge financial resources to rebuild them. If Putin is fighting for it that much, let him have it. I wouldn’t want to make Russian an official language or give out more territory than that.

“I’m opposed to demilitarisation as well, as no one can give guarantees that they will protect Ukraine.”

She says more needs to be done to help troops and families in Ukraine. “I don’t trust any of the European leaders,” she said. “I think all European countries and America should step up their game. They all say how much they help but do they really do so?

“I can see that more and more territories are being taken over by Russia. Their help isn’t helping.”