Telegram Channels “Ukrainians in Slovakia”
Today the Telegram channel is one of the most popular platforms for communication — from following current news in the country and the world, and educational material and knowledge sharing, to business, brand promotion and selling your own services.
Why Telegram chats matter after you move
For Ukrainians who have come to Slovakia, Telegram is an ideal way to stay in touch within communities. When you arrive in a foreign country it is always important to support one another and keep your culture and traditions alive, and you can also find new friends and acquaintances in Slovakia.
Everything that matters for settling into a new country gets discussed here. Subscribe and you will find a great deal of interesting information and, most importantly, the kind you need in order to live in Slovakia.
The groups have lively discussions: who has sorted out which documents and how, where people found work, how to send a parcel to Ukraine and back, where to find a garage for your car, how to get a doctor’s appointment, how to get a child into nursery. And much more that Ukrainians with temporary protection status deal with every day.
List of channels and chats
We have put together a list of Telegram channels for the Ukrainian community in Bratislava covering community support, beauty services, free language learning and help with finding work, on the theme of “Ukrainians in Slovakia”.
https://t.me/numospilno_slovakia
How to choose the right chat
There are many channels, and there is no point subscribing to all of them at once — your feed will be unreadable within a day. It makes more sense to pick three or four: one general news channel for the country, one for your city, one on a specific topic (work, housing or children) and one classifieds group.
Note the difference between a channel and a chat. In a channel only the administrators post, which is handy for catching the news. In a chat everyone posts, so you will get an answer to a specific question faster, but there is more noise too. For an urgent question you want a chat; for news, a channel.
Safety: how to avoid scammers
Communities of new arrivals are a familiar target for fraudsters, because people here do not know the local rules well and are in a hurry. A few schemes come up again and again.
- Advance payment for housing. You are asked to transfer a deposit for a flat you have not seen, sometimes with convincing photographs. Never transfer money before viewing the place in person and signing a contract.
- Paid help with documents. Applying for temporary protection status and booking an appointment at the foreign police are free. There is no need to pay a middleman for something the state does free of charge.
- Jobs with payment up front. You are asked for a fee for the placement, for a uniform or for training. A legitimate employer never charges a worker for being taken on.
- Currency exchange by hand. A favourable rate from a stranger almost always ends either in counterfeit notes or in losing the whole amount.
The general rule is simple: any request to transfer money up front to someone you have not met in person calls for a pause and a check. Chat administrators are not responsible for deals between members.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to speak Ukrainian to join a chat?
No. In most communities people happily use both Russian and Ukrainian.
Can I ask questions anonymously?
Yes, in Telegram you can hide your phone number in the privacy settings and leave only your username. It is worth doing this before joining large chats.
Where should I look for official information?
Chats are good for practical advice, but decisions about status, payments and documents are taken by state authorities. Always check official information on the ministries’ websites rather than on someone’s retelling in a chat.
Read also
- Facebook groups for Ukrainians in Slovakia
- Russian- and Ukrainian-speaking specialists in Slovakia
- Which Slovak news sites are worth reading
The information has been gathered from publicly available sources and is current as at the date of publication. Channels and chats are created and closed all the time, so some of the links may stop working over time.