Figures show 174 visas have been issued under the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme in Nottinghamshire. The scheme allows Ukrainian nationals and their family members to come to the UK if they have a named sponsor.
The data has been published by the Home Office and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Visas have been issued to local authorities based on the postcode of the sponsor’s address, or of the accommodation address if the applicant is not staying with the sponsor.
The Home Secretary, Priti Patel, has apologised for the low numbers of refugees being granted access to the UK. It is believed, nationally, 12,000 people have reached the country under two different visa schemes.
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The figures come as Russian forces in the northerly reaches of Ukraine have withdrawn to Belarus and Russia, the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) said. Dmitry Peskov, press secretary to Russian president Vladimir Putin, has also confirmed that Russia has sustained “significant losses of troops” in the war in an interview with Sky.
It is thought this is to regroup. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky believes the scenes in the town of Borodyanka are "significantly more dreadful" than the scenes witnessed in Bucha recently. Here Russian forces have been reported to have left civilians dying in the rubble of their destroyed homes for a week.
Ukrainian officials also reported that 300 people were killed by Russian troops in Bucha with an estimated 50 of that number executed. The reported actions have been condemned world-wide and the UK and Nato are to begin upgrading the arms of Ukrainian forces in response.
The number of refugees granted a visa so they can flee such atrocities have been broken down by local authority. Roughly 1,200 of the 12,000 have arrived under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. A total of 174 of these are in Nottinghamshire. The figures are shown below:
Mansfield: 20
Nottingham: 44
Rushcliffe: 24
Ashfield 0
Gedling: 24
Newark & Sherwood: 25
Broxtowe: 16
Bassetlaw: 21
Total: 174
