2000 miles from ukraine, the somerset village of oak hill, now home to dozens of refugees. do you want to come on in? robin s front room is no longer his own. just through here. so, here we have our family, what we ve got over from the ukraine. so the head of the family is natasha. hi, hello, i mjon, nice to meet you. this isjon. so there is natasha, her daughter, and her grandchildren, who have moved in, and their cousins are all staying next door. what do you think of this place, of this village of oak hill and the welcome you ve had? i was amazed how many people open their houses, and invite us. robin and his wife sue were among the first in the village to offer their home. it s a lovely sound to hear children playing and laughing. that s, that s the best gift. and knowing what they ve come from as well, what you ve been able to give them? yes, absolutely, yes. sue and robin s generosity means tania can feel safe again. but opening up their home has not been straightforward. it s
times this year. hopefully not again but business has dropped by about 30% but we are still going. here but business has dropped by about 3096 but we are still going. here as in so many 3096 but we are still going. here as in so many other 3096 but we are still going. here as in so many other places 3096 but we are still going. here as in so many other places they i 3096 but we are still going. here as in so many other places they have l in so many other places they have had to reduce the hours the opening to cut costs. fish and chips on the beach is really very hard to beat but how long is the traditional british chippy going to be with us? the industry is now warning that everything that makes up this classic british dish is going up massively in price. over the last 12 months the price of cod has almost doubled, the conflict in ukraine has seen the cost of sunflower oil soar up by half and more, and gas and electricity is now five to six times what it was. at this chip shop at
troops on the border. and ukraine s resilience would soon face the ultimate test. this is the same square today, with rows of captured or destroyed russian tanks in what is a display of defiance. but how independent is ukraine, with the russians now occupying a fifth of this country, and it being almost completely reliant on weapons from the west? for one former president, who campaigned against russian influence, sovereignty is notjust about weapons and territory. translation: for me, first of all, the benchmark of independence i is the strength of spirit, the power of national spirit. today, i can say with confidence that 42 million ukrainians speak in one voice, and that allows us to face any enemy, including russia. this independence day poses some
ever no ukraine is marking the 31st anniversary of the country s independence from the soviet union today and six months since the russian invasion. security is tight in the country, because of fears russia could step up its attacks. our ukraine correspondent, james waterhouse reports. as history has shown, the more russia tries to pull ukraine in, the stronger people s sense of identity becomes. on the outskirts of kyiv, this factory used to make hotel uniforms. now it s flags lots of them. translation: these are very dear colours to us. every ukrainian feels these colours and we see them in everything in the sky, in wheat. we have been making flags every day for the past few months.