Russian woman in Hampshire hopes for visa for Ukrainian cousin

Ukrainian refugee Valya Jewaga fled her home country at the weekend

A Russian woman living in the UK is desperately trying to get her Ukrainian cousin a visa so she can enter the country.

Valya Jewaga, who fled the fighting at the weekend, has family near Winchester, Hampshire.

Tatianna Salvage says she will sponsor her cousin, but is unsure how to prove they are family.

Mrs Jewaga, 34, left Chernigov with just a few clothes, medication and a phone and is currently in Romania.

Tatianna Salvage hopes to get a visa for her cousin

She and her American husband, who cannot stay in the European Union for longer than three months, are making their way to the Romanian capital Bucharest and the British embassy.

Mrs Jewaga said the situation in Romania has been desperate: "I cry on and off. I couldn't reach my parents because the mobile signal wasn't working, I got through eventually.

"They're OK, I'm trying to get them out of Chernigov, but the roads are dangerous."

Aside from leaving her parents behind, Mrs Jewaga, who is an English teacher, had to leave her eight cats at home.

It comes as Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told the BBC the government could and would do more to support refugees, and his department would help the Home Office accelerate the system.

The UK has granted visas to 300 Ukrainian refugees under its new scheme so far, the Home Office said.

It added that 17,700 applications to re-join relatives had been started.