Rob Rinder travelling to Ukraine border to help Strictly partner’s grandparents

Rob Rinder has announced he’s travelling to the Ukrainian border to help bring his Strictly Come Dancing partner Oksana Platero’s grandparents to safety.

The Good Morning Britain presenter, who recently branded Vladimir Putin ‘pure evil’, explained his aim to rescue the professional dancer’s family from the war-torn country as the Russian invasion continues.

Detailing his mission in a series of tweets, Rob said he would aim to get to Poland for Monday to reunite with Oksana’s grandparents.

‘Oksana Platero my Ukrainian dance partner on @bbcstrictly gifted me so much,’ he said. ‘Right now her grandparents are a week into their struggle to find sanctuary in a safe country.

‘I’ll be trying to meet them on the border next week. They’re just a few of the millions who need us.’

In another post, he wrote: ‘Depends on where they make it to but I’ll be at the polish border from Monday.

‘If they cross into Hungary the next step will be getting them to safety with their family.’

On Tuesday, it was reported a total of 2 million people have now fled Ukrainian territory, the UN refugee agency UNCHR revealed.

Figures collated from officials at border crossing points also reveal which countries the victims of Vladimir Putin’s invasion initially escaped to.

Oksana Platero my Ukrainian dance partner on @bbcstrictly gifted me so much. Right now her grandparents are a week into their struggle to find sanctuary in a safe country.
I’ll be trying to meet them on the border next week.
They’re just a few of the millions who need [email protected] pic.twitter.com/RqYtsB6rts

More than half, or 1.2 million have entered Poland, whose long border is the quickest safe haven to reach from many of Ukraine’s northern and western cities.

While Kyiv, Chernihiv and Kharkiv, early targets for Russian bombing, are closer to Belarus, the country has been used as a staging ground for Russian forces.

As the home of Europe’s largest Ukrainian diaspora, Poland is also the first port of call for many Ukrainian refugees hoping to reach expatriated friends and relatives.

Hungary has welcomed the next biggest number of refugees, with 191,348 people crossing the south-western border, followed by Slovakia with 140,745.

Moldova, home to Europe’s second-largest population of Ukrainian expats, has reported 82,762 crossings, while Romania has had 82,062.

British visas have been granted to 300 Ukrainians under a new scheme so far, according to the Home Office, while another 17,700 applications to join previously settled relatives have yet to be fully processed.

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