The government must urgently rectify its failed Ukrainian refugee response

Editorial: The scale of the devastation in Ukraine and the ongoing outrageous murder of civilians only highlights the urgency of the need to provide sanctuary to its people

(Brian Adcock)

There is no shortage of irony that it is clearly far easier to get a British prime minister into a foreign conflict zone than it is to get a normal Ukrainian citizen out of one.

Boris Johnson has taken a surprise visit to Ukraine, to be pictured walking around Kyiv with President Volodymyr Zelensky. Pre-agreed words have been put on social media by various Ukrainian politicians, describing Johnson as “the leader”, in international terms, in Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression.

There’s no doubt that the UK is playing a pivotal role in arguably the most important aspect of the conflict. It has provided vast numbers of weapons; and, importantly, weapons that have achieved cult status among Ukrainian fighters. The firing of handheld anti-tank missiles has been accompanied by shouts of “God Save The Queen!”.