A British man has abandoned his partner and two children after falling in love with a 22-year-old Ukrainian refugee who came to live with them to escape war, as part of the government’s “Houses for Ukraine” programme, according to the British newspaper, “Daily Mail”.
Sophia and Tony
Tony Garnett, 29, and his partner Lorna, 28, welcomed Sophia Karkadem at the beginning of May, but just 10 days later their seemingly happy marriage was torn apart when he eloped with the refugee.
Security guard Tony, who lives in Bradford, West Yorkshire, says he has fallen in love with Sophia and wants to spend the rest of his life with her.
Sofia, who fled the city of Lviv in western Ukraine, said she “imagined” Tony as soon as she saw the couple having their own “love story”.
Tony and his partner Lorna
Tony admitted the pain the breakup would cause to his partner, Lorna, and said he had “experienced a relationship with Sophia that he had never experienced before”.
In an attempt to do her duty to help Ukrainians flee the Russian military operation, Sofia was hosted by the family, with Tony telling The Sun newspaper that he “wanted to do the right thing” and that she was the first person he contacted on the Facebook page after he offered to shelter a refugee.
Sophia, who works as an IT manager, flew to Manchester on May 4 after waiting weeks in Berlin for her UK visa to be approved.
Tony said he quickly developed a relationship with Sophia, and while his two daughters, aged six and three, liked her, his partner, who lived with him for 10 years, was not.
The newspaper said Tony, who speaks Slovak, speaks with Sofia, who understands Ukrainian.