Ukraine War: Woman with cancer 'feeling at home' in Londonderry

A Ukrainian woman with brain cancer is among the first group of refugees welcomed to Londonderry under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

Inna Shevchenko and her 27-year-old daughter, Karolina, are now staying at a friend's house in Northern Ireland.

Ms Shevchenko was receiving hospital treatment in Germany when she heard news of the Russian invasion.

She said she was very grateful her friends in Derry reached out and offered them a place to stay.

"At the beginning of January I came to Germany to be operated on with my brain tumour, it was cancer," she told BBC Radio Foyle.

"After this I found out that in my country the war had started.

"When my treatment finished, me and my daughter found ourselves in Germany and we couldn't come back to Ukraine because the situation is awful.

"We decided to go to Northern Ireland, to Derry, because our friends invited us to stay with them in their house," Ms Shevchenko said.

"My daughter Karolina and I are glad we are here among friends," she explained.

"I feel very nice, because first of all very many positive and kind people are around us.

"I feel like we are at home."

More than 6,000 people in Northern Ireland have already expressed an interest in offering accommodation to Ukrainian refugees.

The Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme allows Ukrainian nationals and their family members to come to the UK if they have a named sponsor under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme.

Ms Shevchenko said by relocating to Northern Ireland she is now also hoping to continue her treatment.

"People cannot have treatment in Ukraine, all the hospitals are destroyed or are closed, it is a catastrophe," she said.

Ms Shevchenko said she receives online updates from people who are back in Kharkiv.

"We get messages from our friends, the situation is not good in Ukraine, they bomb the city every day and night, there are Russian troops everywhere, our relatives are in danger," she added.

Ms Shevchenko said that she is worried for the safety of her elderly father, who has remained in the Ukrainian city.

"Our friends come to him every day. We are in touch with him through the internet every day when he has light, because sometimes in houses there is no light, no gas, no heating, it is very difficult to survive."

Ms Shevchenko said that herself and her daughter were very fortunate in how quickly they were able to enter Northern Ireland under the scheme.

"It wasn't very difficult as we got special letters from the UK government to say we are allowed," she explained.

"It was very easy through the sponsorship programme, it took about two weeks," she added.

According to the latest government data, 4,700 sponsorship visas have been granted to Ukrainian refugees in the UK, with 40 sponsors coming from Northern Ireland.

New data is expect to be published on Friday morning and that figure is expected to be higher, a spokesperson for the UK Home Office has said.