Ukraine invasion: Boris Johnson says more than 200,000 Ukrainians could be allowed to join family in UK
More than 200,000 Ukrainians could be allowed to join family in the UK amid the Russian invasion, Boris Johnson has said.
Speaking during a visit to Poland, the prime minister said the UK will "make it easier for Ukrainians already living in the UK to bring their relatives to our country".
Ukraine-Russia news live: Johnson visits Poland and Estonia to show support for NATO allies
Key developments:
• President Zelenskyy tells EU 'prove you are with us' - as Kharkiv strikes kill 'at least 10' people
• CCTV shows missile strike on a government building in Kharkiv - causing huge explosion
• Activist breaks down in tears as she confronts Boris Johnson about lack of no-fly zone
• Military action turning into 'perilous misadventure' for Vladimir Putin, Raab says
UK 'extending family scheme'
Mr Johnson said exact numbers are "hard to calculate" but "they could be more than 200,000".
According to the UN's refugee agency, around 660,000 people have fled the country after Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine last week.
The PM said: "What we are going to do is we are extending the family scheme so that actually very considerable numbers would be eligible ... you could be talking about a couple of hundred thousand, maybe more.
"Additionally, we are going to have a humanitarian scheme and then a scheme by which UK companies and citizens can sponsor individual Ukrainians to come to the UK."
The PM's spokesman said Ukrainians living in the UK will be allowed to bring in "adult parents, grandparents, children over 18 and siblings" in addition to immediate family members.
Home secretary sets out more details to MPs
Priti Patel told the Commons that individuals will be able to stay for an initial 12 months and will be able to work and access public services.
She said there will be no limit on the number of people that will be able to take up the "very generous" offer.
Speaking in the Commons on Monday, she ruled out a visa waiver for Ukrainians fleeing the conflict due to security concerns, a position she repeated in her statement to MPs on Tuesday.
Around 100,000 Ukrainians had been expected to be eligible to come to the UK, but this has now increased to 200,000 as a result of the scheme being widened.
The PM's spokesman said these numbers were "indicative only" as it was "impossible to predict" how many people would take up the chance to come.
"We think it is right to have that open offer so that they can bring loved ones and be reunited with them should they wish to make that journey," he said.
Regarding plans for a scheme allowing organisations and individuals to sponsor Ukrainians to come to the UK, the spokesman said the government would liaise with the UN refugee agency to identify people on the border and work with councils, the devolved administrations and individuals and organisations who want to be involved.
The home secretary said this would "open up a route to the UK for Ukrainians who may not have family ties with the UK".
Patel accused of 'refusing to open fast and simple scheme'
Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said there would be "considerable relief" that the government has now "changed its position and now accepted we must do more".
But she said there remained "many questions" about how the asylum routes will work.
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Alistair Carmichael, home affairs spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats said it was "shameful that we are having to drag the government inch by inch towards making a real commitment to the Ukrainians now fleeing Putin's war machine".
He added: "Even as the Russian missiles rain down and a huge convoy advances on Kyiv, the home secretary is still refusing to open a fast and simple refugee scheme for Ukrainian refugees."
Ukraine invasion a 'colossal mistake' by Putin
Mr Johnson also said he is "more convinced than ever" that Putin's military campaign will fail and that he had made a "colossal mistake" by invading Ukraine.
Mr Johnson said Putin was using "barbaric and indiscriminate tactics against innocent civilians" and was prepared to "bomb tower blocks, to send missiles into tower blocks, to kill children, as we are seeing in increasing numbers".
He said evidence of the Russian president's attacks on civilians could be used in a future trial at The Hague.
The Russian president, the PM said, had "fatally underestimated" the resistance of the Ukrainians and the resolve of the West to act amid what he described as an "unfolding disaster in our European continent".
Mr Johnson said the only way out of the "morass" is for Putin to withdraw from Ukraine, warning that if Russia were to triumph, it would "overthrow the post-Cold War order and destroy the vision of a Europe whole and free".
The PM also suggested ways in which sanctions against Russia could be strengthened, saying: "There is plainly more to be done on Swift, we can tighten up yet further on Swift, even though it has had a dramatic effect already I think we do need to go further.
"There's more to be done on Sberbank, there's more to be done on the freezing of Russian assets.
"I think there's genuine amazement and dismay in Russia about what has happened already but there is more to be done."
Mr Johnson said there could be more "severing of sporting links" and "cracking down on the billionaires associated with Vladimir Putin".
