A RESIDENT from Basingstoke has been left heartbroken after she was unable to bring a family fleeing Ukraine home with her to the safety of the UK.

Neil and Maria Pouney have been sponsoring a young mother and her one-and-a-half-year-old child who have fled Kyiv after their home was bombed following Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

Last Tuesday, the pair heard that the youngster and her mother had fallen ill so Maria flew to Warsaw to help look after them.

SEE MORE: 'We are just trying our best to make things better for them': Couple helping Ukrainian mother and sick daughter after sponsoring family to come to the UK

Since then Maria confirmed that she was unable to bring the family home with her.

She said: “I came home without them and it’s been so hard, the Government have pledged to turn the visa applications around in 48hrs yet mine still hasn’t moved from waiting.”

She said leaving them behind was devastating.

She added: “Yes for us all, especially the little one she and I have grown to put her arms up and say ‘up', I hugged her but had to walk away and she and mum were crying.”

The pair have been sponsoring the mother and daughter for about two weeks.

Neil Pouney, added: “We have been chatting online and the little one is only one and a half and they managed to make it to Warsaw and to the visa application centre but she does not have an international passport. She is in a hostel in Warsaw at the moment having a pretty rough time.

 “We are just trying our best to make things better for them."

Maria who spoke to the Gazette while in Warsaw said there “are hundreds of children and families” who need help.

READ MORE: 'My conservatory was full': Resident overwhelmed by sheer amount of donations for shelters for animals and refugees in Ukraine

She added: “Mum is also poorly, and she has lost over a stone in weight, which has had an impact on her breastfeeding and that’s the babies only source of the nutrients.

“She become homeless and I flew over on Wednesday and booked a bed and breakfast to look after them and the little girl has been in hospital since the day I arrived, it took us over six hours in the medical centre and there were hundreds of children.

“There were just hundreds of kids who were sick.”

She said she is not scared and would break arm and leg to help these families.

The pair, who have been married for 15 years, hope the family can come and live with them but are devastated to leave the family stuck in Warsaw.

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