A Ukrainian mum and daughter who fled the war in their home country say they were turned away from the UK border as they attempted to reach their friends in Wales.
Alena Semenova and her mother, Tetyana Tsybanyuk, from Kyiv, drove more than 1,500 miles to the ferry port at Calais, only to be told that they would not be able to make the crossing without a visa.
It comes as the Home Office has faced criticism for its slow response to the refugee crisis caused by the brutal conflict in Europe and failing to follow other European countries waiving strict visa rules for Ukrainian refugees.
Just 957 visas have been granted to desperate Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion - despite 22,000 applications, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has admitted.
Alena, 22, and Tetyana, 40, claim a border guide merely shrugged when they explained they were refugees seeking asylum in Britain.
The pair have since been offered a place to stay in Glasbury-on-Wye, near Brecon, by Ms Semenova’s godparents, Graham and Alla Blackledge.
Want all the latest news and analysis from Ukraine? Sign up to our World News Bulletin here
However, Ms Semenova, who was a medical student before Russia invaded Ukraine, and her mother, are currently stranded in France.
They have little money with them and are subsequently sleeping in their car and surviving on two meals of porridge a day.
Ms Semenova said they are constantly checking the UK Government website for hints that Ukrainians without family in the country can apply for a visa.
She said the situation has left her “upset and depressed”, feeling like the pair may be waiting in vain.
“We are running out of funds and we hope that we will have money for gasoline when the situation changes and we are allowed to come to Alla and Gram,” she said.
“Because of the long wait, my mother cries all the time and says that she is afraid to die and what will happen to me then. I calm her the best I can.”
Ms Semenova has documented the terrifying experience of fleeing Ukraine in a diary, which begins with an account of being woken up on February 28 to the sound of rockets flying over their hours.
They battled traffic and managed to get to Lviv, then cross into Poland. Their route then took them through Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium before they reached France.
They arrived in Calais more than a week ago, at around 10pm on March 1.
On the same day, pictures emerged of the TV tower outside their apartment complex being bombed.
"We couldn't believe we did it. We were so happy that we would soon hug Graham and Alla and all our troubles and fears would be behind us," Ms Semenova said.
"We arrived at the port, bought a ferry ticket. A girl from Irish Ferries helped us figure out how to buy a ticket and fill out passenger information, in which we indicated that we were going to Wales to visit people close to us."
Although they were allowed through French passport control, they were pulled aside at the UK border control and asked to leave their car and follow officials into the office.
Ms Semenova said: "We did not understand what was happening, why we were detained as criminals.
"By 1am, when our ferry had already left, an employee of the British border guard approached us and said that we would not be allowed on the ferry because we did not have a British visa.
"We said that we had travelled almost 2,500km because there was a war in our country and the only people close to us in all of Europe lived in Wales and that they were waiting for us there.
"But the border guard officer shrugged her shoulders and said that they would not let us through without a visa."
The women now remain just outside of Paris waiting for a phone call from the Home Office which they have been told will come but has not yet happened. They say they are often being harassed by French police officers suspicious of their presence.
Mr Blackledge, a chiropodist who moved to Brecon from Leeds in 1988, married his wife Alla in Kyiv in 2016. Mrs Blackledge had worked as a lawyer in Ukraine and had to flee to Kyiv from the Dombas region in 2014 when fighting between the government and pro-Russian separatists broke out.
Mrs Blackledge, who had been applying for British citizenship when the current war began, has a number of family members who remain stuck in Ukraine because they now believe it too dangerous to leave.
Mr Blackledge said they are desperate to bring their goddaughter to safety: "Despite all the bravado from the MPs, whether it's English or Welsh ones, it's just talk, and talk's cheap. Nobody's turned around, as far as I am aware and said, 'Here's two people who've already suffered enough. I'm going to do something about it and get them over here'."
The couple said they have been getting support from people in the local area, with many saying they would offer Ukrainians a place to stay, but said the attitude of the UK Government was different from that of its citizens.
In a plea to Boris Johnson and his Cabinet, Mr Blackledge said: "I ask you to take a step back and look at the suffering and the pain that the Ukrainians are going through and ask that as a human being you extend help.
"Let them come over, house them, feed them, look after them. And then if you want to start processing them, but in the first instance help.
"And to accuse those seeking sanctuary in Britain of perhaps being Russian spies trying to infiltrate the UK, you should be ashamed of yourself."
A Home Office spokesperson said: "Last week we announced a new sponsorship route which will allow Ukrainians with no family ties to the UK to be sponsored to come to the UK.
"This is alongside our Ukraine Family Scheme, which has already seen thousands of people apply, as well as changes to visas so that people can stay in the UK safely.
"The routes we have put in place follow extensive engagement with Ukrainian partners. This is a rapidly moving and complex picture and as the situation develops we will continue to keep our support under constant review."
