New British parents are stuck in Ukraine after they went to collect their newborn surrogate twins they waited 13 years for.
Manisha and Metaish Parmar said they are living an “absolute nightmare” while trapped in the country in the middle of the Russian invasion after Vladimir Putin declared war.
They told of their terror hearing explosions go off while the family are taking cover in an apartment.
Mrs Parmar told BBC Radio 5 Live: “Things are not good, we can hear explosions going off. It’s absolutely traumatising, devastating. We’re absolutely worried, we don’t know what to do. We can’t go anywhere, we’re just stranded and stuck in Kyiv.”
The parents had arrived in Ukraine three weeks ago when a surrogate mother welcomed their twins into the world, a moment they waited 13 years for.
“We thought we would come here, see our newborns being born and have the best moments of our lives - 13 years we’ve been waiting for this moment,” she said.
“And now we’re just living this absolute nightmare and we just want to get out.”
The couple said the British Embassy has asked them to drive 14 hours across a war zone to Lviv to collect the emergency travel documents they need to return to the UK.
The Foreign Office said there is a limited capability to help British nationals in Ukraine.
During a Good Morning Britain appearance, the couple gave an emotional interview detailing their situation.
Mrs Parmar said: “In a situation like this, you’d think they’d understand right? And send the emergency travel document electronically in this crisis. But no.”
Mr Palmer added: “We’re pleading with the British Government and the UK embassy to help us get out of this place as soon as possible.
“Tensions are rising, things aren’t looking good or sounding good where we are, around us. The environment is very stressful and we are obviously scared, we don’t know what to expect right now.”
