Grateful but facing an uncertain future: Ukrainians adapt to life in Ireland

Professional ballerina Maya Tsuprenko recounts how she had to leave the Moscow Royal Ballet, which was on a sold-out two-week tour of Ireland, soon after Russia invaded her country. Now, she aims to rebuild her life after the arrival of her mother and grandmother to Ireland.

Ukrainian ballerina Maya Tsuprenko arrived in Ireland the day before Russia invaded her country on February 24. Photo: Conor Ó Mearáin / Collins Photos

Professional ballerina Maya Tsuprenko had just arrived in Ireland to dance with a Russian ballet company on a sold-out tour when bombs were first dropped on the streets around her home town.

She watched the carnage on TV from a hotel room in Dublin, trapped in a foreign country and unable to return to Kharkiv.