A 12-year-old Ukrainian girl, who has been documenting her experiences of war in a journal, said she feels safe now that she has arrived in Ireland.
Yeva Skaletskaya and her grandmother Irina fled their home city of Kharkiv after their apartment block was bombed.
Their efforts to get to safety, and Yeva's journal recording her experiences, were first reported on by Channel 4 News last weekend.
A 12-year-old Ukrainian girl, who has been documenting her experiences of war in a journal, said she feels safe that she has arrived in Ireland.
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) March 13, 2022
Yeva Skaletskaya and her grandmother fled their home city of Kharkiv after their apartment block was bombed. | https://t.co/2jTA7FLX1v pic.twitter.com/9LMjAVh8L8
Watching the reports prompted a Dublin couple, Catherine Flanagan and Gary Abrahamian, to get in contact and invite them to stay in their home.
"I teach English and I was taken by the fact that she was writing a diary... we thought 'wow this girl is like Anne Frank' and how terrible that is in 2022, but isn't it wonderful that she is writing a story that needs to be told," Gary said.
"At the end (of one of the Channel 4 reports) it spoke about the challenges of where she might go and (difficulties getting) access to England, and we both turned to each other and said she should come to Ireland," Gary and Catherine told RTÉ News.
With help from Channel 4 News, Ms Flanagan managed to make contact with Yeva and Irina, and she invited them to stay with them in their family home in Glasnevin.
On Friday night they arrived into Dublin Airport.
"It was such a lovely moment when the two of them walked through, it was just sheer relief," Catherine said.
So far Yeva has been introduced to children on the street, and has been baking, playing the piano in a neighbour's house, and they attended a Ukrainian mass service at Our Lady of Consolation Church in Donnycarney this afternoon.
"Probably the best thing is the very kind people and you can meet a lot of friends here," Yeva told RTÉ News "I feel safe and I can relax and probably start a new life."
Irina raised Yeva and is her main caregiver. Her parents are separated and her father lives in Russia.
Irina speaks of her gratitude at all the help she has received in getting her granddaughter to safety.
"I left everything behind. My car, everything. All I cared about was saving the child's life," Irina said.
Yeva thought she might stop writing once she arrived to Ireland but she has decided that she will keep writing.
"I will write news from Kharkiv and my life in Ireland," Yeva said.
As long as the fighting continues, she said, she will keep writing.
"The name of my book is 'War (in 2022: Through the eyes of a child)' and I think I will finish this book when (the war) stop," she said.
