Ukraine war: Refugee visas for Wales pass 3,300 mark

More than 3,300 visas have been issued in Wales to refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine, figures have shown.

Official statistics show that 2,021 of those had been sponsored by individuals and the rest by the Welsh government.

So far, just over a third of the refugees have arrived in Wales.

Cardiff, Monmouthshire and Pembrokeshire have had the most sponsors, while Blaenau Gwent and Merthyr Tydfil have the fewest.

Almost 40,000 Ukrainians have arrived in the UK after fleeing the Russian invasion.

The UK visa scheme has come in for criticism from family members and potential hosts who have said it takes too long for visas to be approved.

Home Secretary Priti Patel apologised for the "frustrating" delays.

The UK government had faced pressure - including from some Conservative MPs - to issue emergency visas, or lift visa requirements altogether for Ukrainian refugees, but rejected such calls.

EU countries allow Ukrainian refugees in for up to three years without a visa.

The Welsh government said the data was a "useful study" but largely relates to those who arrived under the Ukraine Family Scheme.

A spokesperson added: "Wales had a small Ukrainian population prior to the recent conflict and it is therefore inevitable that the proportion of Ukrainians arriving in Wales would be small compared to other parts of the UK with larger pre-existing Ukrainian communities.

"Our 'super sponsor' route was available from 25 March and initially the processing of visas by the UK government was slow. Therefore, there will be significant lag in this dataset. The speed of visa processing is a matter for the UK government.

"Through our Team Wales approach, we continue to work closely with our partners to ensure all the wraparound services are in place to support people arriving from Ukraine."