Ukraine girl overjoyed at finding the same doll she left at home in Ukraine from a charity

A young girl from Ukraine was overjoyed at finding the same doll that she was forced to leave behind when they exited their home in a hurry. Veronika and her mother, Tatyana, left their home after Russia attacked Ukraine, and moved to the U.K. as part of the Homes for Ukraine scheme. They are staying with a sponsor family in Epsom and Ewell, Surrey. Because they left so quickly, they only brought one suitcase and a stroller. Their sponsor family contacted baby bank charity Stripey Stork to see if they could find some necessary items for Veronika. Little did they imagine that she would find the same type of doll that she left back home, at the charity.

Along with the sponsor family, they left for the charity’s warehouse to pick up some necessary items including clothes, shoes, toys, a high chair, a bed guard, a potty training kit, diapers and toiletries. When Veronika spotted her old doll she was elated. Nicola Dawes, founder and chief executive of Stripey Stork, said, “It was particularly special to discover this doll was just the same as one that Veronika had not been able to bring from home."

"Veronika and her mum got very excited when they spotted this doll—it was just the same as one she’d had to leave behind at home. How special!" tweeted Stripey Stork, who also gave them some essentials. “A moment of joy and connection, and it made our day when Veronika blew us a kiss as she left,” said Dawes.

"A family going through an experience it is hard to comprehend, but we thank you for putting us in the position to provide some items of comfort for Veronika and the other families that are referred to us," wrote Stripey Stork, thanking those who supported the organization. Stripey Stork has helped families with baby essentials since 2013 and is now coordinating to help Ukrainian refugees. “We know that over 700 families have been matched in Surrey and we are scaling up to support any requests we receive,” said the charity.

"Stripey Stork is supporting sponsor families who are hosting Ukrainian refugee families arriving in the UK through the UK Homes for Ukraine scheme. There are a significant number of Ukrainian families already matched with families in Surrey. We know that the vast majority of these are a mother and children who will be arriving with very few belongings. We anticipate that they will arrive in the next few weeks," read a description on Localgiving. You can help contribute to Stripey Stork here.

More than 10 million people have been displaced after the attack by Russian forces, reported BBC. While 4.3 million have left for neighboring countries, 6.5 million people have been displaced within the country itself. The numbers could spike with Ukraine's deputy prime minister urging people in the east of the country to evacuate while still possible. Iryna Vereshchuk, the deputy PM, has called on people in the Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk regions to leave now, or risk their lives. Poland alone has already taken in nearly 2.6 million Ukrainian refugees, believed to be 60% of the total exodus since the start of the Russian invasion, according to the United Nations. 

Russia's attack on Ukraine is a developing story, and we’ll update as we learn more. Information is swiftly changing and Upworthy is committed to providing the most recent and verified updates in our articles and reportage. However, considering the frequency of developments, some of the information/data in this article may have changed since the time of publication.