freedom for every one of us, says a village elder, his lip trembling. glory to our heroes. a lonely ukrainian were playing thunderous overhead. the front lines are just town a away to the north. and the defiant spirit is growing here, too, as the bombs fall at random. seizing this corner of eastern ukraine, with its close ties to russia, was supposed to be an easier task for the kremlin s blundering army. but the kremlin s blundering army. but the blundering goes on. my shop is hardly a strategic target, says liliia, with contempt. all this is stiffening the resolve of ukrainian soldiers. we met this tank unit, holding their ground at the spot where russia has been trying to break through. they badly need better equipment. but they have
well after weeks of waiting finally, some good news. liliia and her family arrived in the uk over the weekend and were welcomed with open arms by their new hosts. graham satchell was there, and sent this report. luton airport, and tony and sabrina are here to pick up some special arrivals. it is a moment that will change the lives of two families forever. today s the day. really excited. just. you know, we ve got lots of things planned, as well, so just to get them here, get them home, have a cup of coffee and, you know, get to know each other better. six weeks yesterday was when liliia first reached out to me, so it s been a long process. but, yeah, ijust want to see them, give them a hug, and. yeah, we re excited. we first met both families on this programme more than a month ago. sabrina and tony edge are here in the studio. i m so overwhelmed - this family, it s like something from god, you know?
there is a huge mix of emotions here joy and relief, of course, and a good deal of nervousness. how does it feel to be finally in england? oh, it s a little bit. unusual, of course it s a new country, new people i but i m lucky that i speak english! so that s why i feel very comfortable. i without the support of our family, maybe we would never get - here, but they like. doing like this. iyes, like, pushed or not pushed, l like, yes, must come, must come. the un says more than ten million ukrainians have now fled their homes since the start of the war. liliia says she will never understand why vladimir putin invaded her country. i don t know what is the goal of russia. i i cannot understand why why does it happen? - because we. we are not bad people, you know? ukrainian people are very kind, and how can it be? |
and we just want you to be with us so we can drink coffee, so we can go out and just do the things that we ve spoken about. tony and sabrina have transformed their house, painted and decorated to make it ready for liliia, vitaly and their two children. hi! official figures show more than 50,000 uk families have applied to help ukrainians escape the war. we re just keeping our fingers crossed, as you know. we re getting everything ready for you when you come. as of last week, just 3,200 had arrived under the sponsorship scheme. the government acknowledges the visa process has not been quick enough in some cases. can t wait, can t wait to see you. it s been like an obstacle course. this is a bit like trying to escape a burning house, and you ve made your way to the door, and all of a sudden you ve got to fill in a 50 page questionnaire to get out. finally, after six weeks of filling in forms, the waiting is over.
unprovoked action president putin. i unprovoked action president putin. ., , , ., unprovoked action president putin. , ., putin. i cannot sit-in my warm cosy home and putin. i cannot sit-in my warm cosy home and was putin. i cannot sit-in my warm cosy home and was the putin. i cannot sit-in my warm cosy home and was the dreadful - putin. i cannot sit-in my warm cosy. home and was the dreadful atrocities are not held. they hope and pray i am allowed to help in this way. we will talk to a couple who have already had that thought and reached out and make contact with somebody. joining us now in the studio are sabrina and tony edge, who want to help liliia malona and her two daughters. liliia is at the ukraine moldova border. we are also going to talk to robina qureshi, from a charity that helps refugees. we will talk to you as well. thank you all for being with us. we speak to sabrina and tony first. you had this thought, which many people are sharing this morning, you have r