Ukrainian hopes visa changes will help her family flee to Scotland

A Scottish-Ukrainian woman could soon be reunited with her relatives after the UK government offered to take in more refugees.

Galina Watson had appealed for a change in the rules to help her mum, sister and baby niece escape their homeland.

Parents, grandparents, adult children and siblings of Ukrainians settled in the UK will now be allowed entry.

Ms Watson hopes to be able to look after her relatives at her home in Bathgate, West Lothian.

Home Secretary Priti Patel gave details of a widened family visa scheme following criticism that the UK was doing less than EU countries to help Ukrainian refugees.

But she stopped short of waiving visas, saying that this could put the UK's security at risk because of reports some Russian troops were trying to infiltrate Ukrainian forces.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has called for visa requirements for Ukrainian citizens fleeing conflict to be scrapped, and to for the UK to "sort the paperwork later".

Ms Watson, a British citizen who has lived in Scotland since 2003 and has three children here, said her family's situation since the Russian invasion of Ukraine was "scary".

"I was petrified because my sister called me early in the morning and she said 'the war has started'," she said.

Her elderly mother Yulia, sister Tatyana and five-month-old niece Anastasia live in Dnipro, an industrial city about 500km south west of Kyiv, and have been sheltering in their basement.

"I'm worried that they are going to be targeted as well because it is not that far [from Kyiv] for a fighter jet," Ms Watson said.

They are planning to travel to Moldova to stay with Ms Watson's friends until they can "find a path" to the UK.

The British consulate in the capital Kyiv is shut so they will have to join the hundreds of thousands of people fleeing into neighbouring countries.

Under the widened scheme UK firms will also be able to sponsor Ukrainians entering the country.

Ms Watson had called for a relaxation of the family migration visas which previously only helped a spouse, civil partner, children under the age of 18 or parents of children under 18.

"It's really strange and unclear," she had told BBC Scotland. "I think that people should come here to see family and friends.

"People want to stay safe and also family members are worried about their family members in Ukraine."

She thinks it would be "wise" for the UK to match the EU's three-year visa for Ukrainians fleeing war.

"It is unclear when the war is going to finish," Ms Watson said. "You don't know when they are going to come back, if the houses are still there, if the jobs are still there."

The Scottish government previously said it stood ready to offer "refuge and sanctuary" for Ukrainians fleeing from the Russian invasion if a resettlement programme to bring Ukraine nationals to the UK was launched.