Two Ukrainian kids are settling into life in Scotland after being brought to safety by their aunt and uncle.
Marie and Andy Kuzbyt travelled to Poland to collect Yuri, nine, and Victoria, 14, in an emotional handover with their mum, Natalia, 37, who teaches English.
The Daily Record told how the brother and sister battled needless Home Office blunders and red tape to get visas cleared.
But the children were yesterday preparing for a week’s holiday at Heads of Ayr Farm Park, 20 miles from their new home in Kilmaurs.
The youngsters have been familiarising themselves with the town and are already back into the swing of their education, taking one-to-one lessons from teachers in Ukraine.
Victoria said: “We are very sad to leave our parents in Ukraine but happy to be in Scotland with Marie and Andy.
“It has been an exciting time and we were very tired but it is good that we have a holiday. We hope the weather gets a bit better because we prefer it to be sunny.”
Victoria said she looks forward to her family being reunited.
She said: “We hope to be here for a month before our mother can come over and join us. That will make us much more happy.”
Victoria said her education can carry on in similar fashion to when she was in Lviv.
She said: “We both have mobile phones and the internet means we can stay in touch with teachers.
“We have lessons from 7am until 1030am and then our mum will join us online for more lessons later in the day.”
Yuri also said he already misses home but is very happy to be in Scotland.
He said: “I am happy to be here and people have been very friendly. We are glad to be in our new home.”
Marie, 60, said her priority is now to allow the children to settle into a quiet life that is normal as can be hoped for.
Their rollercoaster dash to Poland meant three days of uncertainty as they collected the children, as they had several border crossings to negotiate.
She said: “There has been a lot of stress and a lot of drama. We were terrified we would be stopped from coming back with them.
“We were all physically shattered after we got back from Poland but we had a long sleep on Saturday night and I think we’re all starting to feel normal again.
“We have been getting in beds and other essentials and I think we will all be easing down to a quiet life.
“I heard locally that East Ayrshire will be hosting 35 other Ukrainians soon, we will try to find out about that, as there might be some support to come from it.
She added: “We all very much look forward to Natalia joining us soon and we hope that all the family and friends in Ukraine stay safe.”
Victoria and Yuri were spending terrifying hours in an air raid shelter under their home in Lviv while the Home Office dragged its heels over issuing a visa for Yuri.
Officials claimed one had been issued and sent. But it was never received and the government refused to issue another.
They only relented after the Daily Record reported the ludicrous and heartless attitude of officials.
Marie and Andy became close to their Ukrainian family in recent years after taking several trips over to Lviv. Andy was born and brought up in Scotland after his own dad fled here to escape World War II.
Natalia, who took the children to Krakow to meet the Kuzbyts, is staying behind in Lviv to look after her mum, Sofia, and to maintain her teaching commitments. She hopes to be in Scotland in May.
