Ukrainian woman reunited with mum after Sheffield protest

A woman who protested in order to expedite her Ukrainian mother’s immigration application said she was relieved to be reunited with her.

Galina Ryzhenko stated that despite fleeing Kyiv in February, it took her mother Tanya seven weeks to join her in South Yorkshire.

Ms. Ryzhenko protested alone outside a Home Office building in Sheffield.

The Home Office said it had “launched one of the fastest and biggest visa schemes in UK history”.

The software manager has been living and working in South Yorkshire for five years and asked for her mum to join her shortly after the war began.

Ms. Ryzhenko staged a demonstration with a sign outside the government office after 38 days of no news.

She stated that she was approached by Home Office personnel.

“They were pretty sympathetic,” she said.

“Another employee came to me and asked me for a location number and they were able to locate it and unblock it.”

Her 70-year-old mother who lived in Kyiv has now arrived and is adjusting to life in the UK.

“I really like it here. I like the people, people are very kind here and life is well organized,” she said.

“The first day of the war I still went to my office and 30 minutes after I left a Russian rocket landed.

“It hit the square where my office was and we understood that it would be stupid to die under the Russian rockets.”

In a statement, the Home Office said it had “streamlined the visa system, including simplifying the forms and boosting staff numbers”.

It added: “In response to Putin’s barbaric invasion we launched one of the fastest and biggest visa schemes in UK history.”

“Over 86,000 visas have been issued so Ukrainians can live and work in the UK.”

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