MP reunites Ukrainian refugee family on aid trip

A British MP has reunited a Ukrainian man with his wife and son who have been staying with him in his constituency home.

Anna Kolomiichuk and her son Sviatik, 7, have been living with Duncan Baker, Conservative MP for North Norfolk.

They both travelled with the MP to Lviv in Ukraine to deliver aid and were able to meet up with Vitali Kolomiichuk after seven months apart.

Mr Baker said it was "the most emotional, privileged trip I've ever been on".

• BBC News: War in Ukraine

Mr Kolomiichuk had managed to rescue his son from Melitopol, where he had been staying with Anna's parents.

The south-eastern city was one of the first places in Ukraine to be invaded by Russian troops when the conflict began.

The mother and son arrived in Norfolk in April.

At the end of last week, Mr Baker travelled to Lviv with the pair to deliver aid, including 300 blankets which are going to Ukrainian soldiers in Kherson and Kharkiv, the MP said.

Mr Kolomiichuk travelled from Kyiv to Lviv and was able to spend an evening and day with his family.

Mr Baker said it was emotional "for me to meet the man whose family I've been privileged to look after for the last seven months".

He said Sviatik, who has recently turned seven, had "no ability to speak English" when he arrived in the UK, but was now fluent.

The MP said the boy's father "noticed these huge changes in his son".

"It was a heart-warming few hours to see him with his dad," he said.

He said it was "painful and emotional" for them to "say goodbye" as they did not know when they would see each other again.

"But I was able to say to him 'your family are in safe hands'," he added.

The MP, Mrs Kolomiichuk and her son have now returned to the UK.

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