Speaking to Aasmah Mir and Stig Abell on Times Radio Breakfast, Marina Pesenti, whose family lives in the north of Kyiv, said that she “really fear for their lives” as they try to escape the country.
She said: “My family, three members of my family, including Sonia, left the house about an hour ago, and they are walking now towards the bridge, which was destroyed, you probably saw pictures which appeared in many media across the world.
“Yesterday, there were multiple instances of shelling and killing, civilians being shot at, while they crossed or soon after the crossing.”
She added: “The town is descending into medieval times, they experience such horrors.
“There are now reports of rapes taking place, reports of wounded children who Russians do not allow to be evacuated to hospitals, theres no electricity, no telephone connection, no gas.”
Asked whether she would like her family to come to the UK, she said: “As you know, Ukrainian citizens need visas to get here, and even those of them who have relatives here, families, they still had to go through this procedure.
“I read also yesterday in the papers that in Calais, on the French side, there were several thousands of Ukrainian refugees trying to cross. My understanding from this report was they also have family in the UK, and they were told to go to Paris and apply for a UK visa
“I think, frankly, this is unacceptable, because these are people fleeing war and something needs to be done very quickly to deal with this.”
Listen to Marina Pesentis full interview on Times Radio.
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