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23rd May 2022

Ukrainian refugee who ran off with dad finally speaks out and blames man’s partner for split

Steve Hopkins

Host blamed for break-up because she was being too suspicious

A Ukrainian refugee has hit back at claims she is a “homewrecker” after starting a relationship with the long-term partner of a woman who gave her shelter in the UK and blamed her host for the split.

Sofiia Karkadym, 22, fled from Lviv to Bradford, West Yorkshire after Russia invaded Ukraine, and moved in with 28-year-old Lorna Garnett and her boyfriend of eight years, Tony, 29, earlier this month.

The IT worker made international headlines last week after Garnett accused her of running off with her partner, just 10-days after moving into the home the couple shared with their two children.

Speaking to The Sun, Karkadym has since claimed it was her host that drove the pair into each other’s arms through her “constant suspicions”.

“The tension, it just pushed me and Tony closer together,” she told the publication.

“She created this situation by constantly suggesting something was going on when it wasn’t. So this is her fault.”

Garnett had previously spoken of her reservations about hosting a stranger but said her desire to help the people of Ukraine overrode her concerns.

She said she became concerned after Karkadym showed “no interest” in speaking to her, and only made an effort with her appearance, including putting on “red lipstick and low cut tops”, when Tony was due home from work.

Garnett later kicked her guest out of her home and Tony Garnett followed.

He has said it was “love at first sight”.

The security guard signed up for the government scheme to house refugees, but after finding the application process too slow, offered his help directly on social media, the Sun reported. He was then introduced to Karkadym on Facebook and became her UK sponsor.

Karkadym said she has been left shamed by her own family and country over the romance, but claimed the former couple had “destroyed their relationship long before” she arrived in the UK and that it was Tony’s decision to follow her.

She’s also been targeted by trolls, who claim she is putting off Brits from taking in Ukrainians in need.

“They say that because of me nobody in the UK will take in Ukrainians. Every UK family will now think ‘I can’t take in a refugee because she will take my husband from me’,” Karkadym said.

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