With the war in Ukraine now in its sixth day, Western leaders have warned that Vladimir Putin could resort to increasingly violent methods in his attempts to take control of his neighbour.
Already there have been mass casualties, with estimates from Ukraine’s health ministry on Sunday putting the number of deaths at at least 352 civilians — including 14 children — since the Russian invasion began.
As the situation becomes increasingly desperate, so does the need for people to flee to safety.
The United Nations estimates that 500,000 people have already fled Ukraine into neighbouring countries, plunging Europe into a full-blown refugee crisis.
As a result, countries across the continent are having to respond to the unfolding humanitarian crisis.
Home secretary Priti Patel this afternoon announced a further relaxation of immigration rules to allow more Ukrainian refugees to enter the UK if they already have family here.
However, the Home Office is still facing calls to go even further and throw open the UK’s borders to those fleeing war in their homeland.
What has the UK announced?
Patel said that adult parents, grandparents, children aged over 18 and siblings of Ukrainians already in UK will now be able to settle in this country.
The change in policy comes just a day after the home secretary said only immediate family members could make the journey.
Family members of British nationals resident in Ukraine who need a UK visa can apply through the temporary location in Lviv, or through visa application centres in Poland, Moldova, Romania, and Hungary, Patel confirmed.
Meanwhile, family members of British nationals who do not meet the usual eligibility criteria such as language and salary, but do pass all security checks, will be given permission to enter the UK for 12 months.
Boris Johnson has said more than 200,000 Ukrainians could potentially come to the UK as a result.
Separately, a special scheme would allow UK citizens and companies to sponsor Ukrainian refugees who want to live here, even if none of their family members already do so.
Those who come under this scheme will be granted leave for an initial period of 12 months.
Patel told MPs in the Commons: “This is a very generous and it is an expansive and unprecedented package.
“It will mean that the British public and the Ukrainian diaspora can support displaced Ukrainians in the UK until they are able to return to a free and a sovereign Ukraine.”
How does it compare to the EU response?
The EU has won praise for offering to accept all Ukrainians even without a visa for a period of up to three years.
EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc would “welcome with open arms those who have to flee from Putin’s bombs”.
What has been the reaction?
The Labour Party said there was “considerable relief” at Patel’s decision to relax the rules further.
However, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper asked Patel whether she could make the “simple commitment” that family members from Ukraine who were fleeing persecution “are all welcome here in the UK — no matter what visa their family member here in the UK has?”
She also raised concerns about the sponsorship route, saying the existing scheme was time-consuming and bureaucratic, with around 500 people resettled over a period of five years.
And she asked Patel why there was no resettlement scheme to accompany the community sponsorship.
“We have a huge responsibility to work alongside other European countries to provide sanctuary to those who are feeling war in Europe,” Cooper said.
“But we must make sure that actually happens in practice, and that bureaucratic hurdles, that delays, that obstacles do not get in the way.”
Meanwhile, Tory MPs offered their own verdicts.
Edward Leigh, the MP for Gainsborough, thanked Patel for her “proportionate” response and for “not throwing away the immigration rulebook”, warning that the UK was already the “country of choice for mass migration”.
But Caroline Nokes, chair of the women and equalities committee, urged the home secretary to “work at pace” on the family scheme.
She added: “We often hear the language of burden sharing, when we’re talking about refugees it’s not a burden, we should regard it as a privilege to be in a position to help.”
SNP home affairs spokesman Stuart McDonald said: “Why is it that yet again at a time of humanitarian crisis, the Home Office is having to be dragged towards a generous and comprehensive response instead of a shambolic and miserly mess?”
Why are security fears playing a part?
Patel resisted calls to offer asylum to all Ukrainian refugees by claiming there were security concerns about doing so.
She said Russian troops were seeking to “infiltrate and merge” with Ukrainian forces and that there were “extremists” on the ground who could seek to come to the UK to do it harm.
“Given this and also Putin’s willingness to do violence on British soil, and in keeping with our approach which we have retained consistently throughout all emergency evacuations including in Afghanistan, we cannot suspend any security or biometric checks on people we welcome to our country,” Patel said.
“We have collective duty to keep the British people safe and this approach is based on the strongest security advice.”