story by: Dave King

THE winds of war have found love in Chepstow between a shy Rotarian, who had ​never been in a relationship before, and a Ukrainian woman forced to escape the ​conflict with her young son.

Karyna Kulyk fled the eastern town of Mezhova near Donetsk, just a dozen miles ​from the Russian frontline, with son Serafim and just a couple of suitcases within ​a couple of months of the conflict starting in February 2022.

The couple arrived in the Chepstow, South Wales, via Bulgaria, where Karyna met ​Guy Wilson from Chepstow Rotary Club, who was volunteering at the St Briavel’s ​Ukraine Community Hub in the Forest of Dean.

After a whirlwind romance, the couple were married at St Luke’s Church in ​Tidenham in the Forest of Dean in May, and even received a blessing from the ​Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who was visiting the parish shortly ​before their nuptials.

Guy 49, admitted even he was surprised to have found love having struggled for ​much of his life with confidence and self-esteem. He said: “Love always finds a ​way. In my case, I thought I knew where my life was going, but suddenly a world ​event changed all that. I am so thrilled we found each other.

For Karyna, 34, the journey to the UK was long and difficult. A lawyer back home ​in Ukraine, she is now waitressing in the UK unable to practice here until she gets ​fresh qualifications. Along the way, she and Serafim were moved around, often at ​short notice, and even spent a few months living at a pub near Chepstow.

“We had to leave Ukraine because there was bombing every day and the ​frontline was coming closer to my town,” recalled Karyna. “My son would wake ​up crying and screaming. It was scary for him, so we knew we had to go.

“Initially, my plan was to go to Canada, but my friends told me about getting a ​visa to go to the UK. However, we managed to find a sponsor family at Undy in ​Monmouthshire. We stayed with the first family for about four months, and then ​we moved to a pub. It was fun!”

The couple met at the St Briavel’s Ukraine Community Hub in Chepstow which ​the Rotary club has been supporting with clothes and financial support. Guy ​recalled being asked one day to give Karyna a lift and from there love blossomed ​with the Englishman offering to child-sit Serafim, 7, while his mother worked.

“We had a few days out and the relationship grew from there,” he added. “I think ​our first date was at a cinema. I wasn’t thinking romantically, I thought Karyna ​was a lovely girl, but I was delighted to help the Ukrainians who had come here. ​That formed into a friendship, and then grew into love.”

Guy, who admits he has struggled with clinical depression all his life, says the ​romance has transformed his life for the better. Using Google translate, he wrote ​in Ukrainian to Karyna’s dad asking for permission to marry his daughter, ​receiving the reply “Finally”! And he proposed on the beach at Padstow on New ​Year’s Eve.

The couple’s love story received national media coverage, though sadly this has ​been tarnished by social media comments claiming that Karyna’s motivation was ​to get hold of a British passport, which will actually take several years to obtain. ​“We have to be together for three years and then Karyna can apply for ​citizenship, which will take another 12 months, and then she can apply for a ​passport,” explained Guy.

The couple are not flustered by the social media comments. Karyna’s family are ​delighted, and her mother Valentyna is currently staying with them for a few ​months, having come over from Ukraine for the wedding. Serafim is doing really ​well at school and has become fluent in English with a slight cockney accent.

The plan is for the couple to eventually go to Ukraine for wedding celebrations ​there, while Guy is now Ukraine liaison officer for Chepstow and District Rotary ​Club where his father Christopher is club President, and Secretary of the St ​Briavel’s Ukraine Community Hub.

The couple now live in Caldicot, a marked town between Chepstow and Newport. ​“When I came to the UK, I thought I didn't want any relationship because I was ​broken. I had come here to look after my son,” added Karyna. “And now we have ​a happy life together – the three of us.”