A woman who came to Blackburn after fleeing Vladimir Putin’s invasion last year is aiming to give the town a taste of home, after opening its first Ukrainian restaurant.

Alesia Liashenko, 38, fled her hometown, a small village called Cornela near Kyiv in Ukraine in May 2022 after Russia began its illegal invasion of the country, and sought sanctuary in the UK.

She is one of 69 refugees who have made their home in Blackburn and now wants to give back to the town which has welcomed her with open arms by bringing a taste of Ukraine to East Lancashire.

Albina’s Kitchen, located in King Street – sharing premises with Finest Italian run by her friend Gabriel Frincu – opened on Monday, June 5, and features a menu made up of traditional Ukrainian dishes Alesia used to make regularly in her homeland.

It features some of the country’s speciality dishes, plus a few which are a bit less well known.

These include the iconic chicken Kyiv, borscht (a beetroot soup with a distinctive red colour), vareniki (potato and mushroom dumplings), and holubsti (stuffed cabbage rolls), along with Ukrainian honey cake for those with a sweet tooth.

Alesia attends community events with other refugees and their hosts and had cooked food for the people there which has been well received, inspiring her to open the restaurant.

Alesia said: “Lots of people from Ukraine came to the opening, people who are living in Blackburn, Accrington and Clitheroe.

“They all know me and came to support me.

“Everybody is very happy, the food is very delicious and we want people to come in.”

Alesia said that she is hoping it will be a success and that the restaurant will move into its own premises in the future.

The opening came as the invasion of Ukraine escalated again when a key dam in the occupied territory of Kherson was blown up caused major flooding and thousands needing to be evacuated and many more left without drinking water – with both sides blaming each other.

On the state of the conflict, Alesia said: “I cry all the time. Home is home.”

Alesia also said that she still has family in Ukraine, with her sister living near to Kyiv.