Nottingham family's relief after helping relatives flee Ukraine marred by fear for those left behind
Report by ITV Central reporter Rajiv Popat
A Nottingham family has been reunited after a married couple travelled to Romania to help their Ukrainian relatives flee the Russian invasion.
Last week, Kate Djfaer travelled to the country to help her family fill out their visa applications needed to come to the UK.
And now her mother, her sister and 11-year-old niece are with her in Edwalton, Nottingham. At first, they fled to Moldova and then to Romania. They arrived in the UK on Saturday.
Kate says it feels "amazing" to have them safely back with them: "I'm so relieved and happy to have them all here. We're going to be safe and carry on with our normal life like every other family."
Her mother, Valentyna, says the feeling is bittersweet: "I'm pleased to be here, but very concerned about what is happening back home; it is a war and I'm really worried."
11 year old Nicole remembers waking up to the sound of shelling outside for the first time
Tanya Grynshenko, Kate's sister and Nicole's mother, told ITV Central she doesn't know how long she'll be in the UK. "I would love to go back to my home," says Nicole. "Because this is where I used to live all my life, my child grew up there.
"My husband is still there waiting there for me. I just can't wait to back home."
Valentyna continues by saying "it's so hard right now not knowing what is going to happen to your loved ones, and what's going to happen to our country.
"We just hope it will be okay, and we win this war."
The family were frustrated by all the forms that needed to be filled out when they arrived in Romania and the delay waiting to see if their visas would be approved.
But despite that, Akin Djfaer, Kate's husband who travelled with her to Romania, said it would have been "impossible" without all the support of friends, MPs and the government.
Kate was very concerned about her niece, particularly hearing all the explosions and seeing war first-hand. She says knowing that she is away from it all gives her some comfort.
Nicole says she's looking forward to making new friends here and learning English. However like her mother and aunt, they say they want to eventually go back to Ukraine and be with her father again.