Two Ukrainian boys who fled their home country are celebrating their A Level results.

Vlad Pokoievych and Vlad Minenko were both taken away from their home country after the Russian invasion in 2022 and arrived as refugees in Brighton.

Now, the pair are both celebrating A* grades in their exams at Brighton College as they prepare to head to university.

Vlad Minenko, who received an A*, A and B, said: “Leaving Ukraine and seeing all the destruction brought to my homeland impacted me significantly.

“I want to develop skills that will enable me to help with the reconstruction of my country, with research and innovative design as I study Mechanical Engineering at Manchester.

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“I am grateful to Brighton College for helping me to succeed.”

The pair were part of a cohort of 23 Ukrainian students who were given places at Brighton College after being displaced from their home country.

After the breakout of war in March 2022, thousands of refugees landed in Brighton and the UK as part of the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

Vlad Pokoievych, who received an A*, A, B and C, plans to go to Bath University to study a Business degree.

He said: “We are safe here, but I want continually to be a reminder that elsewhere in the world people are suffering, and it is our responsibility to do as much as we can to keep that awareness alive, support where we can and be grateful for every day.

“I have been given so many opportunities at Brighton College, that even though a lot has been taken away from me, I choose to embrace that which I have been given.”

The success for the Ukrainian boys comes amid the backdrop of slightly lower grades nationwide as boundaries return to pre-pandemic levels.

Students receiving their results this year will have taken their first exams at college after GCSE tests were cancelled in 2021.

Brighton College received 338 A*s across this year’s cohort, with A*s being the most common grade in the school.