HOME OFFICE BUREAUCRACY LEFT THIS FAMILY IN TERRIFYING LIMBO
They face an impossible choice: stay, endure the shells and missiles, and hope home will still be there when the treaties are signed. Or flee, grabbing a bag with just the clothes they could carry, and make for sanctuary beyond Ukraine’s borders.
Three million people have chosen the latter. One of them is 72-year-old Luba Bilko. She left her home in Kyiv, hoping to join her daughter Lana in London. But it turned into a two-week ordeal, with Luba sleeping on floors and stuck between countries. In the UK, Lana struggled to access help. Their incredible testimony recalls a battle with bureaucracy, frustration with politicians’ promises and the suffering of a mum trying to join her daughter.
Thursday February 24
Russia begins its invasion in the early hours of Thursday. Soon after, Luba is on the phone with Lana, who is screaming: “get out of there NOW.”
LUBA: Our town, Korosten, is just a few miles from a military base.
Heavy military flights were flying over my head. There was panic on the streets, and people were queuing for hours
