A Ukrainian refugee has released a children’s book which was inspired by her decision to flee her country and move to the Isle of Man.

‘Veronika’s Treasure Adventures on the Isle of Man’ was written by Yulya Brykailo, who moved to the island with her two children Veronika (aged 7) and Sviat (3) back in 2022 at the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The book is a children’s story about a girl named Veronika - based on Yulya’s daughter - who has just moved to the Isle of Man, but is scared and misses her home.

Her mother gives her a map and tells her there are treasures to be found in the island, and Veronika sets off on an adventure to explore places such as Castle Rushen, the steam train, Café Lingo, the shipwreck site in Jurby, Cregneash village, Arbory School, and the farm where they lived with their sponsor family.

By the end of her journey, she discovers that the ‘true treasure of the Isle of Man is friendship’.

Yulya said that the inspiration for the book came from the fact that it was her daughter who found the move to the island the hardest.

‘She was just five at the time and had never studied English,’ Yulya explained.

‘Two weeks after we arrived, she started year one at Arbory School. Her class welcomed her with the Ukrainian word “Pryvit” (hello), and every child had learned it. Since then, they’ve supported her constantly, in ways beyond anything I could have imagined.

‘I was overwhelmed with gratitude for the people around us, and that’s why I wrote the book.

‘It was originally for Veronika, so she could remember the places and people who surrounded her during this time.’

Yulya said that coming to the island was the right decision, but that finding a family to sponsor her and her children was a ‘stroke of luck’.

She said: ‘It was a terrible feeling - putting your children to bed while not thinking about tomorrow, but about the night ahead. You think about how to dress them in a way that allows you to run quickly if there’s an air raid or a missile strike.

‘It was an extremely difficult decision to leave everything familiar and move to a place I’d never been before, not knowing for how long.

‘Everyone told me that finding sponsors in the UK would be nearly impossible, but the very first family I contacted agreed to host us.

‘That’s when I first heard about the Isle of Man and started researching where it was.

‘I wanted to bring my children to a calm, quiet, and family-friendly place - the island seemed just right.’

Veronika’s Treasure Adventures is the first book that Yulya has written, after previously just being an illustrator.

She also had the book printed in Ukraine before being sent here, as it was ‘important’ for her to support a Ukrainian printing company.

The book has 13 full-page colourful illustrations and a hard cover, and is available to purchase at both Bridge Bookshop’s in Port Erin and Ramsey.