A Ukrainian refugee who refused to leave the war-torn country without her pet pug has finally been reunited with her family in Britain.
Dina Mykhailova, 38, refused to leave without her 12-year-old pug Zeata, enduring eight months of hell in Zaporizhzhia, where she continued to work as a university lecturer.
She travelled thousands of miles across five countries on a bus with Zeata on her lap – and they made it with only days to spare as Putin’s forces stepped up their bombardment of her home city.
Law lecturer Dina has been reunited with her mum Viktoriia, 61, and stepdad Bill Wyllie, 67, in Inverkip, Inverclyde.
Mum-of-one Viktoriia, had urged her to give up her pet, but Dina adopted a homeless sausage dog which was roaming the streets with other pedigree pooches.
She could only take one pet with her and left the sausage dog with a neighbour.
On October 1 she arrived in Scotland – and the uni where she worked was bombed on the day she left.
Dina said: “I am just glad to be here now with my family.
“It was terrifying at times trying to get here, but we are safe now.
“Zeata is settling in as well.
“There was just no way I was going to go without her, no matter what I had to endure.”
Viktoriia, 61, said: “Dina was simply unwilling to abandon her dog.
“This meant waited three months in a warzone after getting the letter to say she could come here.
“Zeata had to receive certain vaccinations and of course, couldn’t go on a plane.
“They had to get out of Ukraine on a bus through Romania, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Germany and then France.
“I was standing Central Station in Glasgow at 1am waiting on her train to arrive.
“It was almost deserted, just us, and when I saw her again it was so emotional.”
Dina had to wait six months after getting her pooch vaccinated before she could leave.
Days after Dina fled, the Russians stepped up their bombardment of Zaporizhzhia and imposed martial law in the region.
She is now learning English at a college and Zeata is settling in well.
Stepdad Bill added: “There was more paperwork for the dog than for Dina.
“The region is three-quarters under Russian occupation.
“It was a relief, she had no family there and was isolated.
“She can speak a few words of English but not enough to get a job.
“She would like to go back to Ukraine but it is hard to know what the future holds.
“The dog is fine, she’s nearly 13.
“She’s fit and healthy.
“In Zaporizhzhia it’s so sad, there are packs of pedigree dogs roaming around homeless.
“Dina rescued a sausage dog and fell in love with it but she couldn’t take two dogs, a neighbour is looking after it.
“The injections must have happened in March.
“Viktoriia did try to persuade her to come without the dog.
“She refused to do that.
“In the end it looks like that was the right decision.
“We are glad Dina is here and that she is safe, but she is having to start over.
“She has had to give up her whole life, her job, her home and had to leave her friends behind.
“Her life is in the Ukraine and that is where she should be.”
Viktoriia, a supervisor in the Ardgowan Hospice shop in the Oak Mall, has been helping fellow Ukrainian refugees settle in Inverclyde.
She added: “Some of them are now volunteering at the hospice because they want to give something back.”
