Ukrainian woman living in Blackpool terrified for mum's safety as she remains trapped in country as Russian troops invade

These are the words of Iryna Lobodzinska, a Ukrainian woman living in South Shore, who now fears for the future of her family and friends back home as Russia continues its large-scale invasion.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a ‘special military operation’ in Eastern Ukraine on Thursday, with missile strikes occurring in the capital, Kyiv, minutes later.

The Ukrainian border with Belarus was attacked, and Russian ground forces entered the country.

Iryna, a 28-year-old psychology and sociology student currently attending Arden University, said: “We didn’t expect it. We know the conflict has been building for a long time, eight years in eastern Ukraine.

“I think we all expected something to happen, but never something on this scale. Nobody thought it would turn out like this, and even if it did, we thought it would be concentrated in the eastern uncontrolled regions. But the bombing has been all over Ukraine, even the parts which are closer to Poland.”

Iryna moved to Blackpool from Lviv in Western Ukraine three years ago. Her mother, Maria, still lives in the city.

She said: “I have heard from my mum. The scariest thing for me is that, even though I live and work here, I don’t have any option to bring my mum here, because people from Ukraine who are not UK citizens need to apply for a Visa, and now there is no option for her to do that.”

Thousands of Ukrainians fled their homes on Thursday and headed to the border as Russian troops carried out airstrikes on military buildings across the country.

At the same time, the UK stopped accepting visa applications from Ukrainians stuck in the country, meaning there is no safe and legal route for them to seek asylum in Britain unless they have British relatives.

“Even if she did manage to apply for a Visa, there’s typically a three-month waiting list. There’s no option for me to bring my mum here today, tomorrow or even in a few weeks,” Iryna said.

“The whole situation has become uncontrolled. I believe something could have been done sooner.

“The people are scared. They are still hoping for some action from NATO, but so far, all we have are words, no action. Thoughts and prayers are nice, but they don’t help.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization were afraid to take serious action in response to the Russian invasion.

EU leaders agreed on Thursday to impose new sanctions on Russia’s financial, energy and transport sectors and introduce export controls, but these measures have yet to be implemented.

Boris John promised to hit Russia with ‘the largest set of sanctions ever imposed anywhere by the UK government’, while US President Joe Biden said ‘strong limitations’ will be imposed on exports.

Iryna said: “What are they going to do? In Kyiv, they are giving guns to just simple people. These men don’t have any military training, but they’re being asked to fight. The situation is critical.

“The only thing I believe, unfortunately, is that things will be difficult in Ukraine for a long time now. I don’t believe this is something that will be sorted in a few days or weeks.

“Probably, Ukraine will have no chance to develop for the next few years.

“For eight years, the situation with the uncontrolled parts of Ukraine wasn’t sorted out. Issues about joining the EU and NATO were not addressed. Things have been allowed to get out of control.”

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