A family who narrowly escaped the conflict in Ukraine has arrived in Rutherglen to be met with a filthy council flat.
Valeria Liukovych came to Scotland to be with her mother Tamara, who already lives in East Kilbride. The 31-year-old brought along her husband, five-year-old daughter and disabled father, and arrived to safety on Sunday.
The Daily Record reports that the family has since had to squeeze in with Tamara and her husband Stephen Ross.
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Stephen said: “After all they have been through, I could not have allowed them to stay their first night in filth.
“I was horrified when I opened the fridge and there was an old nappy in it, beside congealed milk and butter.
“The freezer is full of dirty water with horrible bits floating in it and the cooker is disgusting.
“There are old sweet wrappers and crisps under the couch cushions.
"I am astounded no one thought to have the place cleaned before a family arrived here from a war.”
Not only was the assigned Rutherglen flat dirty, it also had numerous stairs leading up to the main door - an extra difficulty for Valeria's father, Hennadiy, who has suffered a stroke.
The family fled their home in Zaporizhzhia, south-east Ukraine, before Russian troops captured the city’s nuclear plant – the largest in Europe.
They spent two days in a bomb shelter as the city was shelled before making the 900-mile journey to join Ruslan who was already based in Poland.
Stephen said: “They managed to get on a train but it was a terrifying journey, not knowing if they would be shot or bombed. Valeria was traumatised and it was an enormous struggle for her to get her little girl and father to safety.”
Stephen said the family need to be moved to be closer to him and Tamara.
He added: “They need to have us close by as their support network – they have left their lives behind and have nothing.
“They need to live in East Kilbride.”
Valeria added: “The Scottish people have been so kind and we are grateful to them but it is so upsetting to find my family in a flat which is so filthy and my father will not cope with the steps. I did not expect a lot but I thought it would be clean.
“I thank Scotland for giving us safety but this has been very sad and we are desperate to stay in East Kilbride because I really need to be close to my mother who will be so important in helping us rebuild our lives.”
A spokesman for South Lanarkshire Council said: “We were alerted that the family were coming in under the Family Sponsor Scheme and would be presenting as homeless on a Sunday evening.
“To try and help and to avoid the family having to present to our out-of-hours service, our homelessness team sourced
suitable accommodation.
“We accept the fridge was not in a suitable condition and can only apologise for that.”
