Rod Stewart rents home in Berkshire for Ukrainian refugee family of seven

The musician will pay the bills and rent on the house for at least a year

Rod Stewart has rented a property in Berkshire to house a Ukrainian refugee family of seven, after they were forced to flee their home due to the ongoing war with Russia.

Rostyslav and Olena are parents of five children aged between two and 17, and fled to England without guarantee of a place to stay.

Stewart, who was introduced to the family during his activist work in the Ukraine-Russia war, rented and furnished the house for the family, pledging to pay their rent and bills for at least a year so they can settle, The Mirror reports.

"Words couldn’t describe what we were watching," Stewart told the publication of his reaction to watching news about the ongoing crisis.

"The bombing of innocent children, the bombing of hospitals and ­playgrounds. Like everyone else, we were completely beside ourselves. I don’t wish that one anyone. This is evil, pure evil.”

After watching, Stewart and his nephew Warren organised three large “trucks” to transport supplies to Ukraine, arranging for the vehicles to then be used to take refugees to Berlin. In his efforts to help, he was put in touch with a family in need.

"They are all very grateful," Stewart said of the family. "And it just makes me want to do more. I am thinking of getting another house now and getting a lot more people over."

He said that by sharing his actions, he hoped it would inspire others to do what they could to help other refugees.

"I am sure that if there are people out there who see what I am doing, they will pick up some slack too,” he added.

This week in Ukraine, Russian forces targeted energy facilities in renewed strikes on Tuesday (18 October), causing several explosions in an area of Kyiv where there is a thermal power station.

You can find live updates on the ongoing war in Ukriane here.