March 24, 2022 7.30 pm This story is over 24 months old

Ukrainian mum and daughter reunited in Lincolnshire

Natasha and Nina are now back together

A Ukrainian woman living in Lincolnshire said she and her mother, who fled from the Russian invasion in their native country, both cried when they were reunited.

Natasha Pepper and her husband Eric, who live in Spalding, went to Ukraine-Poland border collect her 82-year-old mother Nina.

Nina lives near the city of Dnipro in south-central Ukraine, but visa delays had left the situation in limbo earlier this month and delayed her reunion with her daughter Natasha.

Eric and Natasha, who run The Craft Outlet in Spalding, travelled to Poland with a car full of donations and stayed with Nina until her visa application was sorted.

When asked if her mother felt leaving was the only option, Natasha told BBC Look North: “Yes, she needed to do it because she worries about her life.

“We don’t know what happens tomorrow, what happens next week, and maybe people don’t have water or electricity. We met her and she started to cry, and me too I think.”

Nina’s son-in-law Eric said: “It was a fear of the unknownw and when she got to the border and came into Poland she said ‘maybe I never see my country again’.”

He added that Nina is dying to return home and will go back to Ukraine in June.

Eric’s mother Elsie Pepper was part of a team of volunteers helping The Craft Outlet to knit hats, scarves and gloves to help Ukrainian refugees.