A Leeds student helping bring Ukrainian relatives to the country has claimed that UK Government staff unfamiliar with new rules have derailed their journey.
Volodymyr Chapman, 27, travelled to Poland to help bring his cousin Yulii Volovnikova, 24, to England after she fled Ukraine due to the Russian invasion. The two ran into issues when they brought birth certificates to the UK Government centre in Rzeszow, southern Poland, on Tuesday to be scanned to begin the process of bringing Yulii to stay with her aunt and uncle in Suffolk.
Volodymyr, who is doing a PhD at Leeds University, claimed UK Government staff were not familiar with new rules introduced on Monday - although he said civil servants were trying their hardest to help.
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Yulii fled her parents' home in Zhytomyr on February 24 - the first day that Russia invaded Ukraine - after being woken by explosions at 5.40am. The call centre worker left behind her parents and her dad has joined the territorial defence force while her boyfriend is also fighting.
She was living in Kyiv but returned home to see her family on February 23 after being warned there might be an attack, and woke them up the following day to tell them the war had begun.
Yulii said: "I booked a car for February 24 and woke up from the explosion at 5.40am. I didn't know what to do, I checked my phone and started checking the news. I was shaking and crying.
"I waited until 7am and woke my parents up and told them 'the war has started'. My father used to be a soldier, he joined the territorial defence, my boyfriend went and fought in the east and he joined back up. My mum is a schoolteacher.
"We were in a bomb shelter under our house. They say they bombed military objects but they are just bombing random things."
Volodymyr flew into Krakow on Monday and drove three hours to the border to help Yulii and her ten-year-old sister. However, new rules brought in mean Volodymyr may need to stay in Poland longer than planned, although it is hoped they can travel back together.
Speaking on Tuesday, Volodymyr said: "I came to Poland yesterday to collect my cousins, grabbed a car and went straight to the border. We are waiting, if the documents are uploaded it's a three to five day wait until you get a case worker to review the files. You get an email allowing you to do the rest in the UK."
"The rules changed today and they don't know what the rules are. Surely someone from the Foreign Office could be here."
Volodymyr said that his relatives have been told to submit documents including photocopies of their birth certificates in Rzeszow before having to pick up a visa in Warsaw.
He said: "Supposedly if Ukrainians have international passports and submit the documents it can be with a case worker in three to five working days, they can get biometrics done in the UK.
"For Europe it is easier, because Ukraine has an agreement that means people can stay for three months. If only such a system existed in the UK, they could go over there if they have submitted the documents. It would be nicer if there was a stepping stone.
"I'm going to have to extend my stay because of the new rules."
He said that the staff had been "very understanding" and were "doing everything they can but it's higher up where the problem is".
On the UK Government's rules, he said: "I don't know if it's incompetence or malice."
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