Waterlooville woman who spent decade helping Chernobyl children and taking on four Ukrainian refugees describes war as 'heart breaking'

A WATERLOOVILLE woman who has spent a decade helping children in Chernobyl said it was ‘heart breaking’ to see the town she worked in destroyed by the Russian army.
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Altruistic Jo Cullimore, 46, has been supporting children from the town of Borodyanka, in northern Ukraine, since 2012.

Russian forces invaded Borodyanka, just outside the capital of Kyiv, on February 24, but have since left the town.

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Jo Cullimore with her arm around Illia Berdnikov, in the town of Borodyanka, northern Ukraine. Jo Cullimore, who has spent a decade helping Chernobyl children, said it is 'heart breaking' to see the town where she worked being destroyed by the Russian army. Picture: Jo Cullimore/PA Wire.Jo Cullimore with her arm around Illia Berdnikov, in the town of Borodyanka, northern Ukraine. Jo Cullimore, who has spent a decade helping Chernobyl children, said it is 'heart breaking' to see the town where she worked being destroyed by the Russian army. Picture: Jo Cullimore/PA Wire.
Jo Cullimore with her arm around Illia Berdnikov, in the town of Borodyanka, northern Ukraine. Jo Cullimore, who has spent a decade helping Chernobyl children, said it is 'heart breaking' to see the town where she worked being destroyed by the Russian army. Picture: Jo Cullimore/PA Wire.
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Ms Cullimore has planned to bring four Ukrainian teenagers to the UK, saying she ‘could not sit back’ and watch families ‘suffer’.

Discussing the current conflict, she said: ‘It’s heart breaking and every day I wake up thinking I’ve just dreamt the war, but then I watch the news and remember that it is real.

‘I started volunteering for a charity in the UK and then went on to helping take aid out to the community and Chernobyl children in 2015, with the help of my mother Lindsay and my 13-year-old daughter Emma, who is now 18.

‘We spent a lot of time working in the town of Borodyanka and the children would put on performances at their school for us and we would help with English lessons.

From left to right -  Sergei Berdnikov, Illia Berdnikov (now 17), Iryna Berdnikov, Lindsay Cullimore, Emma Mack (now 18) and Jo Cullimore. Picture: Jo Cullimore/PA Wire.From left to right -  Sergei Berdnikov, Illia Berdnikov (now 17), Iryna Berdnikov, Lindsay Cullimore, Emma Mack (now 18) and Jo Cullimore. Picture: Jo Cullimore/PA Wire.
From left to right - Sergei Berdnikov, Illia Berdnikov (now 17), Iryna Berdnikov, Lindsay Cullimore, Emma Mack (now 18) and Jo Cullimore. Picture: Jo Cullimore/PA Wire.
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‘The Russians have recently been in that school and now it’s no longer useable, they’ve even graffitied all over the walls, it’s just horrible.’

Before the war, Ms Cullimore, who is a mother-of-two, had already formed close bonds with the families she had worked with.

She has remained in constant contact with one mother in particular, Iryna Berdnikov, who is also a mother-of-two and has a teenage son who is the same age as Ms Cullimore’s 17-year-old son.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, Ms Berdnikov’s son Illia visited the UK to spend a month with Ms Cullimore’s family.

The school in Borodyanka where Ms Cullimore volunteered. Picture: Jo Cullimore/PA Wire.The school in Borodyanka where Ms Cullimore volunteered. Picture: Jo Cullimore/PA Wire.
The school in Borodyanka where Ms Cullimore volunteered. Picture: Jo Cullimore/PA Wire.
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Ms Berdnikov, her son, and her four-year-old daughter, are now staying in Poland after fleeing their home in Borodyanka, but the children’s father Sergei remains in Ukraine.

Ms Cullimore makes frequent visits to Poland to help around 40 families.

Some of them are in the country, while others are still stranded in Ukraine.

She said: ‘I have a particularly close relationship with Iryna, to the point where we now call each other sisters.

Shattered glass and empty bottles were strewn across the floor, as Russian soldiers lived in the Borodyanka school. Picture: Jo Cullimore/PA Wire.Shattered glass and empty bottles were strewn across the floor, as Russian soldiers lived in the Borodyanka school. Picture: Jo Cullimore/PA Wire.
Shattered glass and empty bottles were strewn across the floor, as Russian soldiers lived in the Borodyanka school. Picture: Jo Cullimore/PA Wire.
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‘When Illia’s younger sister, who is now four, was born I went over to help them and I have recently spent a lot of time in Poland with the family.

‘But the trauma… when I speak to Illia now, he says he’s fine but I know something is clearly distressing him.

‘Especially when his mum goes to call her husband, who is still in Ukraine, and comes back with tears in her eyes… it must be so hard.’

Photographs sent to Ms Cullimore show children’s classroom in the school littered with shattered glass and bottles, with Russian words spray painted over the walls.

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She said: ‘The people I know who are still there have told me the town has been as destroyed and flattened by the Russians.

The school in Borodyanka where Ms Cullimore worked. Picture: Jo Cullimore/PA Wire.The school in Borodyanka where Ms Cullimore worked. Picture: Jo Cullimore/PA Wire.
The school in Borodyanka where Ms Cullimore worked. Picture: Jo Cullimore/PA Wire.

‘The town is basically one long street, with a few houses behind.

‘They drove their tanks down shooting at everything and there is nothing that hasn’t been damaged or destroyed.

‘They didn’t destroy the school totally as the Russian soldiers used it to sleep and live in.’

Three million refugees have gone to Poland since February 24.

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