Priti Patel met Ukrainian refugees on the Polish border today and announced a U-turn on how long they will be able to stay in the UK.
The Home Secretary previously said those with relatives in Britain would be given leave to remain for an initial period of 12 months.
But pressure mounted on her after the EU announced people could stay for three years with no family ties.
Her new “family extension route” will allow refugees from the country to stay for up to three years.
Ms Patel, 49, said seeing some of the first people who will apply to the expanded scheme was “wonderful”.
“While we want people to be able to return to their homes at the end of this diabolical invasion, giving thousands of people a route to the UK is the right thing to do,” she said. “The UK is united in our condemnation of Russia’s barbaric actions.
“The Government is doing everything possible to make certain our humanitarian support is in Ukraine’s best interests.”
More than a million people – around 2% of Ukraine’s population – have now fled their country since Russia invaded last Thursday, with more than half crossing into Poland.
Wearing a pin badge to express solidarity with Ukraine, Ms Patel blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin.
She said: “People from Ukraine, mainly women and children, are fleeing what is the most atrocious set of circumstances where they are being persecuted by President Putin. We stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Ukraine and also our dear friends here in Poland who are really working night and day under incredible circumstances.”
The Home Secretary saw hundreds of women and children queuing up behind police lines to reach safety at Poland’s Medyka checkpoint.
She was also taken to a reception centre on the former site of a Tesco on the edge of the city of Przemysl, where refugees are given vital supplies, including hot food, drinks and even nappies.
Ms Patel said: “Some of the facilities they have here are really quite remarkable and we want to very much help and support Poland and stand by the people of Ukraine. This visit is very much in terms of standing in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, but also with our friends here in Poland to see what they’re doing.
“And also see how we can support Poland much more in terms of helping those with links to the United Kingdom to come to Britain.”
Ms Patel also announced application fees will be waived and that Ukrainians will pay the £624-a-year Immigration Health Surcharge to access NHS treatment.
But the scheme, which the Government claims could help 200,000, remains only for family members of people who are already British nationals or settled in the UK.
A sponsorship scheme will also allow individuals and organisations to bring Ukrainians to the UK.
Labour urged the Home Office to go further by creating an emergency visa allowing anyone fleeing the conflict to come to the UK.
Ms Patel refused to take questions and briskly walked away as she was asked: “It’s taken you nine days, why has it taken you so long?”
British volunteer Thomas Bell, from Milton Keynes, was standing on the border, close to where Ms Patel arrived in a blacked out minibus escorted by two police cars.
Thomas, 37, who lives in southern Poland, said a Ukrainian friend was killed in a hale of Russian machine gun bullets on the outskirts of Kyiv last Saturday.
Thomas, who lives in southern Poland, came to fight but decided to stay and help at the border.
He said: “I’ve been staying awake for up to 24 hours and sleeping in my car but it’s nothing compared to what people here are going through.”
