Nadia, with the never-ending dream of becoming an Olympic champion

18-year-old Nadezhda and her two twin sisters, Vyara, and Lyubov, live with their mother in Sliven. A Bulgarian volunteer drove them with his car from Ukraine in March 2022 with one other passenger, four cats, and one dog. Another volunteer gave them his apartment in Sliven for free. Nadezhda, Vyara, and Lyubov also have two brothers, but they cannot leave Ukraine because of the war.

The twins and their mother will never speak about being subjected to constant harassment in Bulgaria by supporters of Vladimir Putin’s regime. They are trying their best to integrate – learning the language, looking for a living and friends they can embrace. Nadia’s great passion is the Japanese martial art of judo – she graduated from a sports school and continues to practice hard here in Bulgaria.

“Here I am now working, training, walking, cycling and so … life goes on!

I’ve already changed five jobs. I worked at the supermarket, then at the juice bar at the mall, at the Karandila hut. Then my mother and I did the reconstruction here, for the Ukrainian children, and took care of them and so … life goes on, little by little.”

Lyuba and Vyara also work, everybody works. Lyuba works at a restaurant and Vyara works at the hospital’s kitchen.

“I want to become an Olympic champion.

I dream of many things, but I have only one goal I want to achieve – that is the European, World, and Olympic Games.

I really, really, not just like, I love Bulgaria and I really like the Bulgarian language.”

Read the rest of the stories:

Diana on how much the illusion of normality helps
Natalia from Herson who wants her country to be the best in the world
Nadezhda from Nikolaev who believes that when it comes to helping others, Ukrainians could learn a lot from Bulgarians
Natalia, the volunteer from Kyiv, who is happy that she can be helpful to others
Ekaterina from Odessa, who wants everything to be as it was before
The cobbler who now helps in a kitchen and says that Bulgarians actually like Ukrainians
Natalia from Kramatorsk, whose home was destroyed but still dreams of returning back
Katya, who we brought to tears by asking one naive question

The filming of the stories was co-funded by the European Union. The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author or authors and do not reflect those of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the body providing the financial assistance can be held responsible for the same.