Ukraine war: Visa plea for Bucha refugees fleeing to Wales

A family hoping to house three generations of Ukraine refugees say they are racing against time to get visas.

Sarah O'Brien, from Denbighshire, wants to help eight of the Palirua family.

They have fled Bucha, where scores of atrocities by Russian soldiers against civilians have been uncovered.

The family, which includes grandparents, two of their daughters and four children, escaped to Poland and have been staying in Warsaw.

Mrs O'Brien, from Llangollen, said they had approached friends in Ukraine offering to help those fleeing the invasion, when the Homes for Ukraine scheme was launched by the UK government on 14 March.

They were then put in touch with the Palirua family.

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But after three weeks and hours working on applications, only five of the family have received their visa papers to come to Wales.

Mrs O'Brien said the Ukraine family have been told they must leave their current accommodation in Warsaw by Sunday, and need urgent help getting permission to come to Britain.

"It was a five-hour process to fill in the eight visas, but it will be three weeks this coming Friday and we are still outstanding three of the visas," said Mrs O'Brien.

"In fact, one of the visas has been issued twice, so that's how the system isn't working."

Mrs O'Brien dubbed the situation "desperate".

They need eight visas to get to Wales but are still waiting for three

The Ukraine family include husband and wife Volodymyr, 75, and Lidiia Paliura, 68, and there two adult daughters, Tetiana and Nataliia.

Their daughters have four children with them - Hlib, Andrii, Anastasiia, and Kateryna - who are between six and 15.

"They want to stay together, but if they are moving out of this accommodation (in Warsaw), they are uncertain what other accommodation they will have," Mrs O'Brien said.

Their home in Bucha has been left wrecked by the conflict

The O'Brien family have offered the refugees a cottage next to their own home, and additional bedrooms in their own house too.

"The situation is so desperate over there. They are from Bucha, their home town has been destroyed," said Mrs O'Brien.

"When you see the news, it's just so horrific.

"As soon as we realised we could host them, we wanted to help."

Sarah O'Brien said she has this property for the refugees to stay in

Mrs O'Brien said they were "pushing hard" to get the visas issued, and were being supported by the Clwyd South MP Simon Baynes.

A UK government spokesman said: "We acknowledge progress approving visas has not been good enough.

"The Home Office has made changes to visa processing - the application form has been streamlined, Ukrainian passport holders can now apply online and do their biometrics checks once in the UK, and greater resource has gone into the system.

"This is allowing us to welcome people faster, while still maintaining security checks which ensure those who could pose a threat to our safety are prevented from getting here and human trafficking is addressed."