A Cheshire man who is struggling to get his elderly mother-in-law out of Ukraine has slammed the "utterly ridiculous" response of the UK Government to refugees fleeing the war-torn nation.
Michael Felton, 61, has been attempting to get his children’s 83-year-old grandmother to safety in the UK after her home came under fire from Russian air strikes.
The city of Kharkiv has been devastated by Russian shelling in the two weeks since Vladimir Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine.
READ MORE: Scouser cancels plans to watch Netflix and eat Pringles and heads to Ukraine border to help refugees
Yesterday, the Mirror reported that huge crowds gathered at the Kharkiv railway station as thousands sought to leave the city under siege.
However, Michael said it has taken “some coercion” from his wife to convince her mother Nadia, known as Babulya to her family, to leave her home in Kharkiv, north-east Ukraine.
The 83-year-old is of Russian descent, but sees herself as “wholly Ukrainian” after migrating to the country with her family when she was young.
As Nadia struggles to make her way to safety, Michael has criticised the British Government's approach to handling refugees fleeing the war.
Mr Felton told the PA news agency: “My wife said to me she doesn’t want her mother, who was born during the Second World War, to die in another war… it’s hard to know what to say.
“I am truly lost for words at how to describe the help our Government is giving.
“By comparison other countries across Europe are accepting people with free transport, free food, free clothing, free accommodation… actually helping these refugees.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson today resisted calls from Kyiv and within his own party to drop visa requirements for Ukrainians fleeing the violence, insisting the security checks were vital to prevent Vladimir Putin sending agents to the UK.
The Prime Minister said a thousand visas had been granted under the scheme allowing relatives of people in Britain to flee the war zone to join their families and he promised another programme allowing individuals to offer a home to Ukrainians would be set out in “the next few days”.
The European Union has allowed visa-free travel, but Mr Johnson insisted that the UK was right to require the paperwork to be completed.
In Prime Minister's Questions today, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford criticised the Government for its response to refugees leaving Ukraine.
He said: "Nobody should support this Government when it comes to the response to the refugee crisis. 760 visa approvals in two weeks is disgraceful.”
He said in that time Poland has taken more than 1.2 million refugees, and listed the numbers for other countries, including Ireland which, he said, has “given sanctuary to three times as many refugees as the United Kingdom”.
Michael added: “She’s lived through this [war] for the best part of a fortnight… She wanted to just stay, and if necessary, die there in her home.
“It’s tough for her, she’s pretty frail and she lives alone… save for a miniature Yorkie.
“She wears hearing aids, so come night-time when the power is cut off and she has no heating, she just takes them out and goes to sleep.
“She’s fortunate in that she doesn’t have to hear the booms and bangs [from the bombs] during the night.”
Mr Felton, who lives in Cheshire, said he is the only family member she has “this side of the planet” as his wife and youngest daughter live in Thailand.
His wife, who he has been married to for 15 years, has spent “most of her time in tears” and considered travelling back to Ukraine to help her mother to safety.
He said: “She just does not want to lose her mother…but I had to tell her it would be a stupid idea to put herself under the same element of danger.
“Then we would have two family members in a war zone and I’d be going in next to rescue them… If I could find them alive that is.”
After contacting the UK Home Office for advice on what to do, Mr Felton said the response has been “utterly ridiculous”.
He said: “I’ve tried being in touch with the emergency helpline but my mother-in-law doesn’t classify as a family member.
“The only thing I can think of doing is trying to bring her across on a ferry myself. Let them arrest me, I just don’t care, because I’ve got no option.
“It’s easy for [Home Secretary] Priti Patel to say what good work she’s doing but it amounts to nothing.
“I’m not the only one who’s in a similar situation…I would love the opportunity for her to tell me to my face how she is helping.”
A Government spokesperson for the Home Office said: “Last week we announced a new sponsorship route which will allow Ukrainians with no family ties to the UK to be sponsored to come to the UK.
“This is alongside our Ukraine Family Scheme, which has already seen thousands of people apply, as well as changes to visas so that people can stay in the UK safely.
“The routes we have put in place follow extensive engagement with Ukrainian partners.
“This is a rapidly moving and complex picture and as the situation develops we will continue to keep our support under constant review.”
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