HORSELL’S vicar has called on Woking MP Jonathan Lord for help in his struggle to deliver his elderly mother from the war in Ukraine to the safety of the UK.

The Rev Dmitry Lutsenko, of St Mary’s and originally from Ukraine, although now a British citizen, wrote to Mr Lord in a despairing correspondence on behalf of his mother, 68-year-old Larysa, who had managed to cross the border into Poland only to become engulfed by the chaos of the UK visa system.

“My mother Larysa, a widow, is currently in Rzeszow, Poland, after a long journey to escape the war in Ukraine,” Dmitry wrote in his first letter to Mr Lord. “Now awaiting her biometric appointment at [visa centre] in Rzeszow. An 11-day wait!

“The visa booking system doesn’t work. Hundreds of people have been booked for the same time. When they arrive, they are facing a day-long wait outside, including babies, children and the elderly in sub-zero temperatures reaching -10C, only to be turned away after spending many hours in the freezing cold.

“I am not asking for any special treatment for my dear mother. I am pleading for all those thousands of people to be given humane treatment by the British Government.”

When contacted by the News & Mail, Mr Lord said: “It is not, and never has been, my policy to discuss the casework of individuals or families.

“However, I will certainly be reaching out to Dmitry with regard to his mother.”

Larysa’s journey to the border was a terrifying ordeal for an elderly woman on her own.

“Her home is in Zhytomyr, about 100 miles west of Kyiv,” said Dmitry’s wife Olya. “It took her 12 hours by coach to reach the Polish border, then 16 hours to cross.

“When we did manage to speak she was in distress, crying, wanting to turn around and go back. She had to change coaches and was disorientated and desperate. 

“Travelling solo with a small bag, at the age of 68. 

“She didn't want to leave, because in her own words ‘her building is standing’. We persuaded her to leave her flat of 39 years and flee while she still could. Zhytomyr we know is being bombed and      shelled, and simply destroyed. 

“A maternity hospital was shelled, civilians have been killed in attacks on apartment blocks, a school 10 minutes’ walk from Larysa’s flat was hit.”

In Dmitry’s further letter to Mr Lord, written as his frustrations with the visa system grew and concerns for his mother mounted, he said: “Her latest visa was issued in March 2020, so in September 2020 she could freely enter the UK, no questions asked.

“Is the Home Office fearing that within the last 18 months, this widowed Ukrainian grandmother might have become radicalised and now be posing a terrorist threat to the UK? Isn’t this just ridiculous?”

At last, though, Dmitry and Olya have had some good news.

“Larysa was picked up by the friend of a neighbour of one of our parishioners here at St Mary's,” Olya said. “The family will house her and look after her until her entry to the UK is cleared.

“If we’d had to rely on our government, Larysa would be in deep trouble, possibly not making the journey at all and even putting her life at risk. 

“The only way her journey was, and is, possible is through the kindness and generosity of people coming together to help each other.” 

Another positive for the family is the announcement by Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, that Ukrainians with passports will be able to get permission to come to the UK online from wherever they are, and will be able to give their biometrics once in Britain.

But Dmitry is not getting his hopes up just yet. “The new online application process is welcome, but too little, too slow,” he told Mr Lord. “So many details still unclear. Will we need to submit another application, or will the existing one be considered online? How long will it take to receive the coveted email allowing entry into the UK?”