A Ukrainian refugee found dead on a British beach had gone abroad to 'find a safe place', a close friend said.
The body of Albina Yevko, 14, was recovered from Dawlish beach in South Devon on Saturday evening just hours after she was reported missing.
The teenager had been settling into her new life and attending the local secondary school after fleeing her war-torn home in May last year following the Russian invasion.
The cause of her death remains unexplained, and toxicology reports from a post mortem are expected to provide some answers later this week.
Tributes have been pouring in for Albina from friends and family as a police investigation continues, with many expressing their shock at her death.
Olena Kravchenko, 39, a married accountant from Kharkiv, came to the UK last May with her seven-year-old daughter Vasilisa, and had grown close to Albina's family after meeting them at a local church.
Remembering her as a kind and thoughtful girl, she said: "I didn't believe it when I heard she had died. I thought this is not about her. I thought it was about another person, or a pet - a cat, hamster or fish. I couldn't believe it.
“Nobody thought it would be that way. We came abroad to find a safe place, so nobody could imagine that this could happen.
“Albina was lovely girl. She was calm, she was smart. I can't say she was very communicative. As with all kids [from Ukraine] she was with some stress and some not understanding how it will be one year later.
Olena, whose husband and brother are in Ukraine fighting, also shared that Inna was from an area called Kryvyi Rih.
Paying an earlier tribute as she released a photo of her daughter, Albina's mum Inna Yevko said: “Myself and my family are devastated to have lost our beautiful Albina.
“Nothing can ever replace her in our hearts.
“We ask that our privacy is respected at this incredibly painful time.”
Another close family friend Viktoriia Zviholska, 38, added that Albina was "not only young, but also very bright", adding that she "liked England" and had "rejoiced at the new school".
Police said they are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding her death after being called on the evening of Saturday 4 March to reports of a 14-year-old girl missing from the Dawlish area.
Local searches took place with support from the police helicopter and coastguard, with an unconscious person found on the beach soon afterwards.
She was subsequently airlifted to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital where she later sadly died.
Police officers said they are keeping an open mind but her death was not currently being treated as suspicious.
