“We left thinking it would be for six months,” says 41-year-old Inna, who fled the bombed-out city of Mariupol for the UK with her parents and sister. “We believed de-occupation was just around the corner, that it wouldn’t last long.”
For the first six months, the four of them lived with a host family as part of Britain’s Homes for Ukraine program. After that, they spent two and a half years in Lowestoft, on England’s east coast, and for the past six months have been living in the eastern city of Norwich.
Inna, who ran her own bakery in Mariupol, now works in recruitment for a Swiss company and helps her parents with their daily lives, as they don’t speak English well. They are 73 and 74, and the state supports them with housing costs, medication, and healthcare.
She says she isn’t making long-term plans — her job is fully remote — and isn’t looking for a local job or to stay in Britain. Her sister has successfully returned to Ukraine, where she received housing and a job in her field, but their parents’ situation is complicated by the need to sell their damaged apartment in Mariupol so they can afford a place in government-controlled territory.
“If Mariupol isn’t de-occupied, then what are they supposed to live on in another city?” Inna asks. “To buy property elsewhere, they need to sell what they have in Mariupol. And right now that’s simply not possible.”
Millions of Ukrainians face the same dilemma: if their homes are under occupation, it is harder to return, and there are fewer incentives to do so. In March 2025, 4.26 million Ukrainians held temporary protection status in EU countries, according to Eurostat. The longer the war continues, the fewer say they want to return.
The number of Ukrainians who wanted to return home fell to 65% in 2024, down from 77% a year earlier, according to data from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Meanwhile, the share of those who said they definitely will not return rose to 11% from 5%.
“We thought of going back to Ukraine at some point — but that was before Mila was born,” says Marina, 36, whose daughter has just turned one. She and her husband, a German citizen, left Kyiv for Cyprus at the start of the full-scale invasion.
“It took me nearly two years to accept that this is home,” Marina said. “Deep down, I know I want to live in a safe country, where my child can grow up and where we can build a future.”
Thirty-five-year-old Yuliia, who lives in Canada with her three children, is certain she won’t return to Ukraine.
“In the beginning, one of the hardest things was the language. I had to learn it from scratch and reach a professional level just to continue working in the mental health industry,” she says. “But despite everything, I’m growing and changing. I see real opportunities ahead.”
She left Kyiv with her former husband on the very first day of the invasion, prioritizing the safety of their children. Today, the children are 8, 10, and 14 years old and attending school, making friends, and pursuing hobbies.
Despite having no plans to return to Ukraine, Yuliia is clear about preserving her children’s Ukrainian identity.
“My kids clearly understand that they’re Ukrainian. We cook traditional food, shop at Ukrainian stores, and go to local Ukrainian festivals,” she says. “Canada has the largest Ukrainian diaspora in the world, and you really feel it here. It feels like home, just a safer, more stable one.”
The Ukrainian government’s hope that as many as 70% of refugees will return after the war is over-optimistic, according to Ella Libanova, director of the Ptoukha Institute for Demography and Social Studies. She says it is likely to be closer to 30%, but it will depend on post-war circumstances.
“The key factors aren’t just safety, but also housing and job opportunities,” she said in an interview with Radio Liberty. “If Ukraine sees an economic boom — something like a Marshall Plan — people will return not just to earn money, but to build meaningful lives.”
Some already have. Another Ukrainian woman, also called Inna, returned to Kyiv after moving to Bulgaria and Spain in 2022 and building businesses in both countries. She’s 40 years old, single, has no children, and works remotely, so it was easier for her to move than for those with families or fixed jobs, she says.
She returned home for the quality of life, the medical system, and the beauty industry, but also for something deeper.
“Our mentality, our values, the aesthetics of our people, it all feels so familiar and dear, and it’s something I don’t want to see only through Instagram,” she says. “My apartment, the neighbors, the architecture, the sound of the city, my favorite spots, this is what makes me feel at home.”
She admits there are moments when fear creeps in. “After a sleepless night of rocket attacks, I sometimes want to leave again,” she says. “But that feeling disappears after a day or two, once things calm down.”
A major factor in helping Ukrainians return will be continued engagement with those living abroad. While Kyiv currently has no separate ministry for citizens abroad or diaspora affairs, experts argue it’s time to prioritize one.
“The goal should be to create stable cooperation between the Ukrainian state and the diaspora to attract both human and financial resources for rebuilding the country,” Ukrainian journalist Olga Tokariuk wrote in a research paper for Chatham House, a London-based think tank.
Sociologist Oleksandr Shulga agrees that reintegration won’t be as difficult as some fear, even for those who left during the war.
“After the war, Ukraine will need everyone,” he says. “International support will help, but we need a positive national agenda, one that focuses on rebuilding and integrating into the EU. In that context, people who return will be welcomed.”
Elina Beketova is a Non-resident Fellow with the Democratic Resilience program at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA). She is the author of Behind the Lines, a database and article series focused on Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories. Elina began her career as a journalist in Crimea and later worked as a journalist, editor, and TV anchor for news stations in Kharkiv and Kyiv.
Europe’s Edge is CEPA’s online journal covering critical topics on the foreign policy docket across Europe and North America. All opinions expressed on Europe’s Edge are those of the author alone and may not represent those of the institutions they represent or the Center for European Policy Analysis. CEPA maintains a strict intellectual independence policy across all its projects and publications.
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