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She lay in a hospital bed in Kyiv preparing to give birth as Russian bombs fell around her.
Now she’s made a new life for her family in Scotland - and has joined with other refugees to help spread the anti-war message in a new theatre production.
Ukranian actress Vira Klymkovetska survived the bombing of hospitals in Kyiv, which claimed the lives of women and children in maternity units.
The film, theatre and TV performer stayed in Kyiv for several months before fleeing to Europe for safety as the Russian invasion of her homeland intensified.
Now mother of two is living in Stirling and has found her way back to her first love, performing on stage as part of Trojans: Why Am I In Your Country?, a powerful production telling the stories of people displaced by conflict which opens on Thursday night.
The 38 year old said: “I thought it would be impossible to have the opportunity and work in theatre again, and I am so happy to have had the chance to go back into theatre, to play and also to be a director.
“Acting has been my life since I was 12 years old, I have acted ever since working on plays in many different countries. I didn’t choose this profession, it chose me.”
Vira, from Kharvkiv, is an award-winning stage actress who has performed in theatres across Europe.
She was initially given shelter by a family in Dunblane as part of the government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme, before being given a flat to raise her two children.
She said: “My youngest daughter was less than one year old when I arrived here.
“I am very thankful to the Scottish people, they are so helpful and have been happy to help us. Our host family were so helpful and I am so grateful and thankful to the people in Scotland.”
Vira recalls the time when she realised she would have to leave her country when Russian invaders advanced on her city.
“At first I didn’t want to leave because all my relationships with people where in Kyiv. And I thought the war would stop quickly, I though it was impossible in the modern world for it to go on. Nobody though it would go on as long as it has.
“I was pregnant with my youngest child and when I gave birth to my child and there were sirens,because they bombed the hospitals.
“And the Russian soldiers were outside of Kyiv blocking the roads and doing terrible things to people, killing so brutally, and terrible things to family who were in a town near Kyiv. The situation was so serious.
“I left with one small bag for us all. I later heard from neighbours that the block of flats I stayed in, the Russians had got on to the roof and painted a sign on the roof, they made it a target.”
Vira was also part of the 2020 film Lethal Cats, which depicted the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014, a job which she says has marked her and her colleagues out as Russian targets.
“The Russians say they will kill us,” she said. “So it is risky and dangerous for me to return and possibly meet Russians.
“But I want to go back to Ukraine and do good things there, and I hope that the Russians will leave Ukraine and I will have the chance to do that.”
For now, she hopes directing and appearing in The Trojan Women, at the Macroberts Arts Centre, will help spread a message of peace.
Through weekly workshops at Hillview Community Centre in Stirling, refugees have used theatre, storytelling and oral history to explore themes of displacement, resilience and rebuilding life in a new country.
The Trojans UK Stirling programme has brought together refugees and asylum seekers from Ukrainian, Afghan, Sudanese, Syrian and other backgrounds, alongside local communities, to develop a production telling an ancient anti-war story.
Written more than 2,400 years ago, the Trojan Women remains one of history’s most powerful plays, exploring the experiences of women displaced by conflict and themes that still resonate today.
Vira said: “I hope the audiences for this play can get the message from the stage to hopefully help people be free again, happy, with open minds.”
The project is co-founded by husband and wife duo, journalist Charlotte Eager and theatre director William Stirling. The pair have worked around the UK with groups of refugees engaging them in drama to help tell their own stories and forge bonds supporting through the trauma of being displaced from war-torn homelands.
William said: “Over the past few months we’ve watched participants grow in confidence, support one another and shape a production that is completely their own.
“The performances at Macrobert Arts Centre will be a celebration of the stories, skills and experiences participants have shared. We hope audiences will join us to experience a powerful piece of community-led theatre and see how creativity can bring people together.”
Alongside the performances, participants are creating a permanent oral history archive of refugee testimony, to be housed at the University of Stirling, ensuring these lived experiences become part of Scotland’s historical record for future generations.
Trojans: Why Am I In Your Country is at Macroberts Arts Centre in Stirling, on Thursday and Friday.