Britons face anxious wait to get Ukrainian parents in need of cancer treatment to UK

Exclusive: ‘We’re running against time here,’ Natasha Kucherova, in Prague with her Ukrainian parents, says

Natasha Kucherova with her parents and children. The UK’s online visa application system for Ukrainians opens on 15 March (Supplied)

Ukrainians in need of cancer treatment have been stuck in limbo in Europe as they navigate the UK visa system in the hope of joining their children in Britain.

British nationals with ties to Ukraine told The Independent they were waiting abroad for their parents – who have fled the Russian invasion – to get the green light to travel to the UK.

Both Natasha Kucherova in Prague and Helen Ross Revutsky in Budapest said they hoped this would happen as soon as possible so their mothers could resume cancer treatment interrupted due to the war.

“We’re running against time here,” Ms Kucherova said.

More than 2 million Ukrainians are estimated to have fled the country since Russia launched its invasion on 24 February, which has killed hundreds of civilians and devastated cities.

Ukrainians hoping to join family members in the UK have been able to apply for visas at centres across Europe. But concerns have been raised over the long waits and distances to travel.

The UK said it would launch an online application process, which Ukrainians will be able to use from Tuesday 15 March.

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This is what Ms Kucherova and her 73-year-old parents Halyna and Volodymyr have spent days waiting for, saying they hoped it will be a quicker process. But the health of her mother is adding “more pressure” to the situation.

“We need to really start my mum’s radiotherapy as soon as possible,” she told The Independent.

Ms Kucherova, who lives in Cambridgeshire but went to meet her parents in Poland after they fled Ukraine, said her mother had surgery at the end of January and has to complete her course of treatment within three months. “We only have until the middle to the end of April. So we need to be [in the UK] as soon as possible.”

This map shows the extent of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (Press Association Images)

She said her mother was “very worried”. It was not only about getting the visa sorted quickly, but also getting cancer treatment arranged once in the UK, she added.

“We feel under pressure. We are running against the time here,” she said.

Ms Ross Revutsky, who lives in London, was in Ukraine to look after her 83-year-old mother, who has lymphoma, when the Russian invasion started. They fled to Hungary on 5 March, where her mother was given an appointment at the visa centre for 18 March.

Helen Ross Revutsky (left) is with her Ukrainian mother, Maltseva Alla Grigirevna, (right) in Budapest ( )

The online visa application system gives them the opportunity to apply sooner. But for this, her mother, Maltseva Alla Grigirevna, needs a passport which was left in Ukraine.

Ms Ross Revutsky said they were hoping to be sent it by post, but this system has been disrupted by the war. Instead, friends are planning on giving the passport to Ukrainians crossing the border shortly.

“I’m just very afraid for the health of my mother, whose treatment has been stopped,” Ms Ross Revutsky told The Independent.

She said the 83-year-old was very quiet and sleeping “all the time” while stuck in limbo in Hungary.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine and the changes we’ve made to the visa process will make it quicker and simpler for Ukrainians with valid passports to come here, as well as ensuring those already here can stay.

“We have expanded capacity at our Visa Application Centres to 13,000 appointments a week, deployed additional staff across the EU and increased the number of people working on our 24/7 helpline in place to ensure those who need appointments can get them to come here.

“This week our sponsorship route will open to allow Ukrainians with no family ties to the UK to come here and we will continue to work closely with our Ukrainian partners to deliver the measures we have put in place.”

The Independent has a proud history of campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable, and we first ran our Refugees Welcome campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and launch this petition in the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we are calling on the government to go further and faster to ensure help is delivered. To find out more about our Refugees Welcome campaign, click here. To sign the petition click here. If you would like to donate then please click here for our GoFundMe page.