World stories

Below is a selection of exclusives covering recent international conflicts.

Mother who fled Ukraine hopes she can get treatment for daughter in Germany

Elena Boyko and her daughter Viktoria are planning to stay with family in Dortmund.

A mother who fled the war in Ukraine with her daughter is planning to take her to Germany so she can receive specialist treatment for a joint condition.

Elena Boyko, 30, left with her daughter Viktoria, 11, after heavy shelling took place near their home in the southern city of Mykolayiv, 70 miles north west of port city Odesa.

The pair, who are not using their real names, escaped the bombing on March 9 and ar

Ukrainian refugee: Family’s future unknown but we hope for something better

Elena Sidorova is planning to start a new life in Germany or Austria with her husband Vladimir and their three children.

A refugee has said the future of her family’s life is “unknown” but they are hoping for “something better”.

Elena Sidorova, 30, is planning to start a new life in Germany or Austria with her husband Vladimir, 31, and their three children, Polina, nine, and two-and-a-half-year-old twins Eva and Zlata.

They have yet to decide where they want to end up.

The family, who are al

Grandmother who fled Ukraine war on crutches now teaching refugees Romanian

A grandmother has described escaping her home in Ukraine to Romania on crutches after the war with Russia broke out.

Using a pseudonym, Milena Ivakova, 61, said she fled her home in Odesa, a port city in southern Ukraine, while recovering from hip replacement surgery with her 40-year-old daughter and her three granddaughters aged 10, 17, 20 and 22.

She is now working at the same refuge centre as a translator and language tutor, helping her fellow Ukrainian refugees learn Romanian so they can s

‘Relief’ as 12-year-old refugee who had application terminated has visa approved

A 12-year-old Ukrainian refugee who had her visa application to come to the UK “terminated” due to an unknown error by the Government has now had her visa approved.

Anastasia Marunich applied to come to the UK along with five family members after they fled Cherkasy, on the banks of the Dnieper River in central Ukraine, two weeks ago.

But her application, which was aided by her cousin Vitalina Clarke and her husband Callum Clarke, was “unable to be concluded” after she provided biometric data a

Ukrainian refugee, 12, had visa application ‘terminated’, family says

“The other applications are being processed but we don’t know if this means that we’re going to end up in the situation where all the adults and other children have their visas approved at the same time and then we have a child who’s not allowed into the UK.

“It’s difficult to say what will happen if they are all approved and Anastasia’s is delayed,” he said. “As a family, we’d like to try and keep at least one or two of us Britons to stay with her and her mum in Poland. We’re not sure if the w

Ukrainian refugee ‘sad and angry’ at Russian invasion

Yana Syniavina and her mother Liubov Syniavina fled Kyiv when the war began.

Yana Syniavina waits with her luggage at Przemysl train station in Poland after leaving Ukraine. (Victoria Jones/PA)

A Ukrainian refugee has said she feels “sad, confused and angry” about the Russian invasion and hopes all her family can be reunited one day.

Yana Syniavina, 26, and her mother Liubov Syniavina, 52, were living in the capital Kyiv, northern Ukraine, when the war began on February 24.

They fled with th

They’re in an hour of need, says Briton handing out food to Ukrainians in Poland

A British man who is handing out food to Ukrainian people who have crossed the border to Poland has described his sadness at seeing people flee their homes.

David Fox-Pitt, 57, from Loch Tay in Perthshire, packed up a van with two pizza ovens and a handful of friends eight days ago and travelled over in a convoy to Poland.

He and his team have set up in Medyka, next to the border crossing of Ukraine to south-west Poland, where they are handing out hot food and drinks to people arriving in the

Ukraine visa scheme ‘a shambles’, says man trying to help wife’s family relocate

A software worker has described the Government’s Ukraine family visa application process as “a shambles” after spending the past fortnight trying to get his wife’s family to the UK.

Callum Clarke, 27, and his wife Vitalina, 23, from Reading in Berkshire, said they first applied for UK visas for six members of Mrs Clarke’s family as they fled Cherkasy, on the banks of the Dnieper river in central Ukraine, after the war broke out last month.

However he said they were “pushed to the back of the q

London couple reunited with baby son after Ukraine evacuation

He told the PA news agency: “I’m really, really happy. I hadn’t seen them in a long time, and it was too much for me and my family. Today’s a big day for me and my family. But they’re still here and we want them to be in London.”

Ms Zavyalova added: “It’s been such a horrible last couple of weeks in terms of waiting, travelling and going through the borders. So it’s been dramatic, very dramatic. But finally, we’re all here and we’re very happy.

“I cannot put into words, to be honest,” she said

British journalist detained in Afghanistan released by Taliban

His tweet said: “Due to no media, no reporting by citizens & a suffocating atmosphere, corruption, crime & atrocities aren’t well exposed. As an example nine citizens of western countries have been kidnapped amongst them Andrew North of BBC & Peter Juvenal owner of Gandomak Restaurant. Talibs are liars.”

A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson added: “We are providing support to the families of a number of British men who have been detained in Afghanistan. UK officials have

Former British army airbase worker granted settlement stuck in Afghanistan

A former British army airbase worker who is stuck in Afghanistan has described his fear of not being able to get out of the country after his application to move to the UK was disrupted by the Taliban’s takeover.

The British Army has been flown out to help move people from Afghanistan to the UK (LPhot Ben Shread/MoD Crown copyright/PA)

The worker said he has not heard from the British Government since Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul fell to the extremist group and is extremely worried for his a