Ukraine: Woman's worry as relatives refuse to flee to UK

Viktoriya Richardson's family have to shelter in their basement

A Ukrainian woman living in Kent has said her family have refused the chance to flee to Britain.

Viktoriya Richardson, who lives in Canterbury with her British husband, said: "It's killing me, because I really worry about them."

Her brother's family have moved in with her parents, with all five sheltering in the basement of their Odessa home up to six times a day.

She is following attack alerts through a phone app.

She said: "My life is on the phone. I constantly check, I constantly listen to interviews of different politicians.

"I don't have a life, it's been destroyed, I live from news to news."

Her brother Vasily and nephew Vlad had to stay in Ukraine by law, to help with the war effort, and her parents and sister-in-law said they would not leave them.

Mrs Richardson said: "This is why I have no hope for them to come, and they had rights to come to me, and they said no."

Viktoryia's male relatives of fighting age are helping with Ukraine's war effort

As an artist, she is channelling her desperation into painting a picture of a famous statue in Odessa, with her country burning in the background.

She has also appealed for more help from the west, in particular the imposition of a no-fly zone above Ukraine.

She said: "This is what we all want but it's not happening."

Viktoriya said her art is her only release at the moment

In Sevenoaks, Daria Bennett is also hoping for more military support, with her father refusing to leave his home in Dnipro in eastern Ukraine.

She said: "He says it's the enemy who should leave and not him.

"Thankfully Dnipro isn't heavily shelled at the moment but neighbouring towns and cities are, and it's very, very scary indeed."

'Never felt so scared'

In Burgess Hill, West Sussex, Kateryna Giles is waiting for news of her brother and mother, who are in the city of Khersov, which is now under Russian occupation.

She said: "My brother phoned me last week, he said: 'I've never felt so scared'.

"They had soldiers, they had tanks, right outside.

"When people go to their windows they can see the Russian military, they can hear the shooting."

Ms Giles is contacting her mother every half-hour, often receiving only heart emojis to show she is safe.

"I can't imagine that I'm never, ever going to see her again" she said.

"I'm never going to hug her and just say to her how much I love her."

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