Ukrainian girl, 14, found dying on British beach was ‘stressed’ over war with Russia after coming to UK to ‘find a safe place’, friends say
- Albina Yevko, 14, who had settled in Dawlish in Devon with her mother Inna
- Teenager was discovered on beach on Saturday evening and died in hospital
A teenage Ukrainian refugee found dying on a UK beach was ‘stressed’ because of the war in her home country but had fled to ‘find a safe place’, a friend has revealed.
Albina Yevko, 14, who had settled in Dawlish with her mother Inna, died in hospital after being discovered unconscious in the Devon seaside town on Saturday evening.
She had escaped to the UK in May last year from her war-torn home after the Russian invasion – and was settling into new life and attending the local secondary school.
The cause of her death is still ‘unexplained’ and forensic toxicology reports from a post mortem are expected to provide more information later this week.
But tributes continue to pour in for Albina – with those who knew her expressing their shock at her death.
Albina Yevko, 14, had been living in Dawlish after fleeing Ukraine following Russia’s invasion
Inna Yevko with her daughter Albina as a child in Ukraine. She has spoken of her heartbreak
The teenager, who attended a local school, was found on Dawlish beach (pictured yesterday)
Olena Kravchenko, 39, a married accountant from Kharkiv, also came to the UK in May with her daughter, Vasilisa, seven, and had grown close to the family.
She said: ‘I didn’t believe it when I heard she had died. I thought this is not about her. I thought it was about another person, or a pet – a cat, hamster or fish. I couldn’t believe it.
‘Nobody thought it would be that way. We came abroad to find a safe place, so nobody could imagine that this could happen.
‘Albina was lovely girl. She was calm, she was smart. I can’t say she was very communicative. As with all kids [from Ukraine] she was with some stress and some not understanding how it will be one year later.
‘She was normal teenager – calm, kind, smart. She was a very good girl.’
Ms Kravchenko said she met Albina’s mother Inna at a local church in Dawlish shortly after arriving in the UK last year and had been supporting her.
She added: ‘For any kid, it’s difficult to adjust. Our kids could learn English a little bit, but they can’t speak good. This isn’t a second language for them. They can known only a few phrases and it’s difficult to make friendships.
‘I don’t think she was struggling with something. She didn’t speak about struggling. Her mum, she never said about any problems in school. She didn’t speak about this. I can only assume she didn’t have any problems.’
Ms Kravchenko, whose husband and brother are in Ukraine fighting, said Inna was from an area called Kryvyi Rih.
Police in Dawlish yesterday as the circumstances of Albina’s death are investigated
Police were seen in the area yesterday after the tragic death of schoolgirl Albina Yevko
Debris of an building damaged in a Russian rocket attack in Kryvyi Rih on December 16, 2022
She added: ‘It was normal to meet people like this because all our lives, being displaced from Ukraine, we are on the move.
‘I found out about Albina on Sunday. Us Ukrainians speak with each other, and if something bad happens, of course people will call or message. It’s a close community.
‘My message to Inna would be don’t give up. Everything will be good one day.. For all Ukrainians.
‘Albina was really nice person. She didn’t offend anybody. She was nice girl. And Albina her mother, she is really brilliant person – she is a good mother, a good worker and a good friend. I can’t say anything bad about either of them.
‘She loved to read books, she was a normal kid. My daughter was playing with Albina and they listened to music together.
‘Her daughter was the one point of her life. She is alone and she had only a daughter. It is so sad.
‘It’s like you lost your friend. We knew this girl. She was a normal teenager.
Police were called to reports of a teenage girl missing from Dawlish on Saturday evening
Police pictured on Monday close to the beach where Albina was found on Saturday
Ms Yevko and her daughter Albina moved to Dawlish after war with Russia broke out a year ago
‘We are willing to support Inna with everything that we can and give her everything she needs.’
Paying an earlier tribute alongside the release of a photo of her daughter, Inna said: ‘Myself and my family are devastated to have lost our beautiful Albina.
‘Nothing can ever replace her in our hearts. ‘We ask that our privacy is respected at this incredibly painful time.’
Police said they are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding her death after being called on the evening of March 4 to reports of a 14-year-old girl missing from the Dawlish area.
Local searches took place with support from the police helicopter and coastguard and an unconscious person was found on Dawlish Beach.
She was subsequently airlifted to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital where she later died.
Officers said they are keeping an open mind but her death was not currently being treated as suspicious.
Searches by a police helicopter and coastguard tracked down the teenager to a beach in the town and she was airlifted to the Royal Devon and Exeter hospital
Inna Yevko (R) mother of Albina Yevko, pictured with her friend Viktoriia Zviholska (L), who revealed they had come to Dawlish last May
Another close family friend Viktoriia Zviholska, 38, added: ‘She was not only young, but also very bright, smart, interesting, she loved to draw.
‘She was a good person. I can’t believe this could happen to her. Albina always discussed with her mother what she would do and where she would go.
‘They liked England. Albina rejoiced at the new school. I found good people in them. I have only good memories of our time together.’
Angela Wood, owner of Coast to Coast souvenir shop in Dawlish, said: ‘I’m shocked and saddened. There are quite a few Ukrainian families here.
‘As a mother it is just very sad. It’s really tragic. When you think of all the trauma they have already gone through it’s heartbreaking.’
Ukraine’s foreign affairs ministry said it was aware of the death and that its ’embassy is cooperating with the British [police] in order to establish the circumstances’.
Dawlish College, where Albina was a pupil, said she ‘would be sorely missed by all who knew her’. Headteacher Sam Banks said the school was ‘devastated to learn of the tragic death’.
He added: ‘Our thoughts are currently with Albina’s family and loved ones and we have extended our deepest condolences and offers of support to them.
‘We have set up emotional support… for staff and students. We would like to respect and echo the family’s request that their privacy be respected.’
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