Olha Kachurenko, 43, a nurse and laboratory worker, and her 13-year-old daughter Marharyta fled their home in the southern city of Mykolaiv, not far from Russian-held Kherson, on March 18, just weeks after the war began. After arriving in Poland, they applied for the UK Homes for Ukraine scheme on 23 March. “We started hearing rumors that the Russians wanted to attack neighboring countries as well, so we decided to try to get as far away as possible,” said Olha Kachurenko. “I went online and saw information about the UK’s Homes for Ukraine programme.” Lee Mitchell, 49, a property developer from Cumbria, saw their appeal for help and offered to take the mother and daughter in. He said: “I have since been told that I was not a suitable sponsor as a single gentleman, so I arranged for them to live in a separate property that I own about 45 minutes’ drive from my home and reapplied for a visa.” However, six months after the start of the war, the visas of Katsurenko and her daughter have still not been approved. Mitchell initially financed housing for the family in Poland, assuming it would only be a few weeks before the visas were approved. But after weeks turned into months, it became more difficult to continue funding the accommodation, and on May 30 the family decided they had no choice but to return to their home on the ninth floor of an apartment building in Mykolaiv. “I think the UK is a very good country for Ukrainians, but our visas have been delayed for a very long time,” Kachurenko said. “There are bombs all around us. I hope and pray that we will have a second chance to leave Mykolaiv and reach safety in the UK.” Mitchell said: “My grandmother came to the UK from Poland after the second world war so I feel an emotional attachment to the area. I have grown close to the family and would never forgive myself if anything happened to them. I wanted to give the family some dignity by offering them a home, but instead they have ended up back in a war zone. “They are traumatized and live in fear. The mental stress they are under is unbearable. They are desperate to reach safety and peace. I can’t get any help or response from the visa people. This has been happening for months. I feel it is completely inhumane to treat these people like this.” Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. A government spokesman said: “More than 75,900 people have arrived safely in the UK through the Homes for Ukraine programme. It is right that we have safeguards in place to ensure the safety of Ukrainians arriving in the UK.” The problems came as the government admitted it may have to consider alternatives to the host program to accommodate Ukrainian refugees. Government sources said: “We are currently investigating whether mass offers of temporary or long-term accommodation may be needed.” Kate Brown, chief executive of the charity Reset Communities and Refugees, which provides matching, training and support service Homes for Ukraine, said: “After the initial wave of interest in hosting people from Ukraine, we have seen a decline in the number of new sponsors they are coming. Some sponsors postponed welcoming people during the school holidays.” He encouraged more people to come forward as hosts.
