Anguish for Ukrainian woman in Peterborough as her family is snared in Russian invasion

Natasha Kucherova (43), fiancee of Yours Clothing founder Andrew Killingsworth, is desperately worried about the safety of her elderly mother and father as Russian troops push deeper into Ukraine and that of her daughter-in-law and one-year-old grandson who are stuck in the Czech Republic after fleeing the conflict.

Natasha said: “No one can believe this is happening.

“Kyiv is a vibrant European city - it is terrible and I just want people to know the injustice of what is going on.”

The family’s nightmare began on Thursday after Russian forces began moving across the Ukrainian borders in a multi-pronged attack with fighting quickly erupting on the edge of the capital Kyiv, which was home to Natasha’s mother and father.

She said: “My mother is 73 and is having treatment for cancer but they had to sleep that first night of the invasion in the basement of car park.

“The next day they managed to travel by car the 100 miles to their home town of Zhyeomyr but the journey that normally takes just over an hour, took eight hours.

“But they are still having to sleep in a basement - there are no bomb shelters because the country was not prepared for such a war.

“My mother’s radiotherapy treatment has been cancelled - all the hospitals are closed.

“On Thursday I was speaking to them every hour. I am still in touch and in voice messages I can hear the sirens and the bombs.

“But they really don’t want to leave Ukraine - they can’t imagine being anywhere else.

“I am really worried about their safety. In fact, there are no words to describe how I feel at the moment. They are trying to tell me to stay calm and that everything is okay.”

Natasha is relived that her daughter-in-law Olha and grandson, David, managed to leave Ukraine just before the invasion.

But she is concerned at how long it will take for Olha to receive the visa she needs to come to the UK to be with her husband.

Natasha said: “A week before the invasion there were warnings that commercial flights might end, so Olha with David, who has a British passport, flew to Prague.

“The intention was to stay a few weeks and hope the situation would ease. But then the invasion happened. She has applied for a visa for the UK but I think because they are so many applications it will take a bit of time to come through.

“At the moment she is living with her baby on their own in an Airbnb in Prague.”

Natasha said: “I just feel I want to do something to help. I want to protect them.

“So I went to the Stand with Ukraine rally in Downing Street.

“It is a desperately worrying time - I feel Ukraine has been stabbed in the back and we need to do what we can to make the Russian people aware of what is really happening.”

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