A mission to bring a group of Ukrainian orphans and unaccompanied children to the UK has stalled after the final paperwork was not signed off.
The 52 youngsters, aged between one and 18, had already fled from war-torn Ukraine and were due to fly to London from Warsaw, Poland on Monday.
But they were unable to leave after they did not receive the final sign off from the Polish Ministry of Families.
The kids and their carers are now waiting in a hotel amid fears they may not be able to leave until Wednesday.
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford, who campaigned for the youngster to be brought to the UK, was due to be on the specially chartered Virgin flight to collect them.
He said: "We've been up against a race against time to get the paperwork that needs to be in place signed off on and there's been a delay on that.
"So, for the time being, it means that nothing is going to happen today.
"I think the key thing is that a lot of people will determine everything is done to support the orphans that are currently in Poland.
"That has always been the first and last concern of all of this, so we'll continue to work with everybody to make sure that arrangements can be put in place to give the children that sanctuary in Scotland."
TV’s Robert Rinder, who was also due to join the mission, tweeted on Monday that they were facing a “bureaucratic nightmare” as they awaited sign off.
But he later added that the children were “safe in a hotel until they can be reached”, adding: “Everyone involved in this mission is working hard to bring them to the UK in the coming days.”
Home Secretary Priti Patel had announced on Thursday that the youngsters, who are being cared for by the Scottish charity Dnipro Kids, which was set up by supporters of Edinburgh's Hibernian Football Club, had been given the green light to travel to Britain.
They were due to arrive in a private part of Heathrow airport and spend some time sightseeing in London, before travelling to Scotland on Wednesday.
They would have been greeted with a welcome meal at Hibernian's Easter Road stadium before heading to "the peace and quiet of rural Stirlingshire".
A statement from Project Light, the operation to transport the children to the UK, said: "The 52 children and seven adults are currently being taken care of at a hotel in Poland and are safe and well.
"The final paperwork required by the Polish Ministry of Families did not arrive in time for the flight to leave today.
"All the parties involved in this mission are working hard to bring them to the UK in the coming days."
A Home Office spokesperson said: "It is deeply troubling that these children have been caught up in (Vladimir) Putin's brutal invasion of Ukraine.
"It is right that we only move these children once we have the full, written agreement of their home and host governments.
"The Home Secretary and her counterparts in the Ukrainian, Polish and Scottish Government are united in their determination to ensure these children get the support and care they need."
