British Airways has issued an apology after it banned a Ukranian family from boarding a flight despite the passengers all having the correct documents.
The family of three, which included an eight-year-old girl, had fled their home in Kharkiv, which has endured some of the most intense attacks, after waiting more than two weeks to be granted UK visas.
They travelled 800 miles to Warsaw airport in Poland, where they were due to fly to London via the airline under the UK government's Homes for Ukraine scheme.
Vira Rybalchenko, 68, lost her passport in the evacuation but was assured by the British embassy that she would be allowed to travel because she had a paper copy of the document as well as a newly issued UK visa and a Ukrainian identity card.
But minutes before they were due to board their flight Rybalchenko was wrongly told by BA staff that she could not leave without her original passport.
BA admitted this was a mistake and issued an apology to the family after being contacted by the Guardian newspaper.
It said: "We're very sorry for the genuine error made by our team when trying to follow Home Office guidance and we've put measures in place to ensure this doesn't happen again.
"We're making contact with the family to apologise and will be providing a full refund of their tickets."
Rybalchenko's daughter, Hanna Zakhovaieva, said: "This was a horrible experience and my mum was absolutely shocked. I couldn't leave my mum in Poland because she doesn't understand the language and doesn't know anyone or have anywhere to stay."
Zakhovaieva, 37, said her eight-year-old daughter, Sofiia, was "very traumatised" by the war.
The family had arrived at the airport at 6am for the 8.25am flight to London Heathrow. Zakhovaieva, an accountant, said they were left "without explanation or apology" by BA staff.
They eventually boarded an 8pm flight to London on LOT Polish Airlines after an employee at the Hungarian airline Wizz Air created a temporary travel document.
Zakhovaieva said she saw another family being turned away by BA staff.
The visa centre at the airport "were shocked that BA didn't allow us to board", she said.
"They said this is a massive issue that a lot of families will face."
British Airways declined to say how many other Ukrainian passengers had been wrongly turned away.
Zakhovaieva, her daughter and mother are now living with their host family in Surrey.
