Ukrainian family denied UK asylum told to use noise-cancelling headphones for child to block out bombs

A Ukrainian family denied asylum in the UK was told by the Home Office that they could relocate within Ukraine and their daughter should wear noise-cancelling headphones to prevent panic attacks.

They are one of several families Sky News has spoken to who have been told they do not qualify for asylum in the UK because parts of Ukraine are judged to be "safe" - as the war there rolls into its fifth year.

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About 310,000 Ukrainians have been welcomed to the UK under special visa schemes following Russia's invasion in February 2022.

The Homes for Ukraine scheme, which allows UK residents to sponsor Ukrainian nationals and their family members to come to the UK, has been extended twice, with the latest extension allowing them to stay until September 2028.

But four years on from the beginning of the war, many of those Ukrainians feel like the UK is home, and some children have spent more time in the UK than in Ukraine, so they wish to settle here.

There is no pathway to settlement through the Ukraine schemes, as agreed with the Ukrainian government, which wants its citizens to return after the war. Many are now applying for different visas, which could lead to indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

Sky News has spoken to Ukrainian families who have claimed asylum over fears of being killed if they return to the country.

But their applications have been rejected, with letters from the Home Office telling them to relocate to "safe areas" in the west of Ukraine, including to areas that have recently seen heavy bombing, and to the capital Kyiv, where there is a high risk of missile and drone attacks.

The Home Office told Sky News the Ukraine schemes remain open, and they have twice been extended.

'No part of Ukraine is safe'

Families are concerned that the Home Office is citing out-of-date data about how safe areas are, with guidance from January 2025 currently being used.

It said: "In general, the humanitarian situation in Ukraine is not so severe that there are substantial grounds for believing that there is a real risk of serious harm because conditions amount to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment."

But the families have pointed to a UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) statement, released in November, that said a deadly aerial attack on Ternopil in western Ukraine "demonstrates clearly that no part of the country should be considered safe".

Immigration lawyers told Sky News that most asylum claims from Ukrainians were now being rejected, but before April 2025 almost all of them were approved.

The government does not agree with this assessment. But Home Office data from 2024 to 2025 show a dramatic reduction in the number of Ukrainians being approved for asylum since April last year.

Try noise-cancelling headphones, family told

One family, whose teenage daughter suffered from panic attacks following their escape from Kyiv in the early days of the war, was told they could relocate within Ukraine, and she should use noise-cancelling headphones.

The Home Office rejection letter, seen by Sky News, said: "As we will be relocating you to a non-conflict zone, it [her panic attacks] does not reach the threshold.

"You could look into noise-cancelling headphones and soundproofing rooms to help with your daughter's panic attack symptoms."

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Her mother, who we are not naming as the family are appealing their asylum rejection, told Sky News: "I left Ukraine on the second day of the war. I tried to protect my five children, but we had a really long and dangerous trip; we had to leave my husband and mother-in-law behind, and we lost connection with them for quite a while.

"My daughter started having panic attacks because of it, and the doctors in the UK have been helping her, and she hadn't had one for a while.

"But, she's a teenager, not a child, so she understands, and since they told her she should go back to Ukraine and just wear noise-cancelling headphones, she's started having panic attacks again."

The family was told they could relocate to Chernivtsi, Ternopil or Rivne, but they do not understand why the Home Office said such areas were safe.

'You can be shot - and you will die'

The mother told Sky News she told her interviewing officer that Ternopil had just been bombed, with dozens of civilians killed and more than 120 injured in November.

"But they didn't listen," she said as she emphasised how grateful she was to the UK for taking them in.

"When they told me I could just go back to western Ukraine because it's not a conflict zone, I have never felt so tiny before.

"The Foreign Office travel advice says all but essential travel to western Ukraine, why are my children less precious than British people?

"You can be sure if you stay in Lviv [in western Ukraine], for example, you can be shot, and you will die, so I don't understand how I can relocate there."

Father tortured by Russian forces

Another family, whose young son is autistic and whose house in Mariupol was destroyed in the fighting, was also told they did not meet the asylum criteria.

The Home Office said it accepted that the father was being sought by Russia's security services after being tortured by Kremlin forces, who believed he was in the Ukrainian army, following the family's escape from Mariupol after hiding in a basement for a week.

The rejection letter also said the Home Office was "satisfied" the family would reach the threshold of persecution and acknowledged the father's fear that Russian forces could kill him or make him become a Russian citizen and serve in their army.

However, it said they would not be at "real risk" if they relocated to the west of Ukraine or Kyiv, citing data from January and October 2025.

'Our son stopped talking'

The Home Office also said the fact that their son was autistic was not considered to meet the criteria of "exceptional compassionate family life circumstances".

His mother said: "Because of the stress of having our home bombed and the difficulties we had leaving Ukraine, our son stopped talking.

"Being with new people, a new area, different language, everything is stressful for him, but he has made a lot of progress in the UK - but we can't even move house here because he will regress.

"Now, the situation in Ukraine is very different to 2022; we don't have any safe spaces; every day there are more and more deaths and bombs, and if we were to live there, we'd have to go to a bomb shelter all the time, which is very stressful for typical children but more stressful for someone with autism.

"The Home Office said there are programmes to help people move back, but rent in western Ukraine is now very high, it's hard to get a good salary.

"I understand every situation is different, but we're talking about children here, they've lost their sense of safety, they've lost their home, they've lost their childhood and stability."

Calls for clear pathway to settlement

Liberal Democrat MP John Milne accused the government of "pulling the rug from under the feet of Ukrainian families" who were welcomed to the UK.

He called on Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to create a "clear pathway to settlement for those who have built their lives here" and said extending the current Ukraine visa scheme by 18 months at a time simply prolonged the anxiety felt by families.

Mr Milne told Sky News: "Ukrainians I've spoken to are deeply anxious about being forced to return to a country at war - and that, according to the government's own travel advice, is not safe.

"If we stand with Ukraine, that must mean standing with Ukrainians too - offering clarity, compassion and a proper settlement pathway for those who cannot safely return."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "Our Ukraine schemes remain open for those seeking sanctuary. More than 310,000 Ukrainians and their families have been offered or granted continued support.

"In September 2025, we announced the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme would be extended for a further 24 months following the initial 18‑month period."

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