Ukrainian mother who fled Russia for the UK with her three young children when war broke out faces terrifying return after Home Office refused asylum claim

Published: 13:28, 14 August 2026 | Updated: 13:55, 14 August 2026 A Ukrainian woman and her three young children who fled Russia are terrified of returning after the Home Office refused their asylum claim. Oksana Guseva and her three children fled Moscow and her pro-Putin husband in June 2022 and travelled to Britain on the Homes for Ukraine Scheme. However, the Home Office then refused to renew her visa in June 2025 based on the fact Ms Guseva does not hold a Ukrainian passport. The 41-year-old is a Russian national but is ethnically Ukrainian and has been an outspoken critic of Putin's war. 'I am Ukrainian, we speak Ukrainian at home, we attend a Ukrainian church and have become a part of the community in London,' she told the Mail. Despite this, Ms Guseva has now had two asylum claims from the Home Office declined and, although she is appealing the decision, she now faces potential deportation back to Russia where Ms Guseva claims she could face serious repercussions. She said: 'I have concerns for my safety in Russia. We haven't been back for four years and the situation hasn't changed. If anything, it has become more terrifying for us.' 'If we have to travel back the moment I arrive at Moscow airport I would be arrested and my children would be taken off me.' Pictured Oksana Guseva with her three children - 13-year-old Ilya, 11-year-old Maxim and eight-year-old Yulia - who face possible deportation to Russia after the Home Office refused their asylum claim  Ms Guseva with her son Maxim and daughter Yulia. The mother-of-three fled Moscow and her pro-Putin husband in June 2022 and travelled to Britain on the Homes for Ukraine Scheme The mother-of-three has criticised the Home Office's response to her situation going so far as to accuse them of 'abandoning' the family. She said: 'It's the fact the Home Office first granted us a visa and then later said it was a mistake and told us to go back. 'It makes us feel like we've been abandoned. First they took us in and gave us protection and then they took it away.'   Before the war, Ms Guseva lived in the Russian city of Yaroslavl with her husband and her three children - Ilya, Maxim and Yulia. However, after Russia launched its war against Ukraine in February 2022 their living situation changed dramatically. Ms Guseva continued: 'Before the war we went to a Ukrainian church in Russia, we were married in the church and my children were baptised there. 'My husband also understood the language but the war changed him and he became a different person and when we chose to leave Russia he chose to stay. We haven't spoken to him now in four years. 'It's a very hard and very difficult situation.'  Ms Guseva with her children and her mother Lyubov who fled Russia together in 2022  Ms Guseva travelled to Britain via Turkey in June 2022 with her children as well as her 64-year-old mother Lyubov. They eventually settled in Greenwich, south-east London, where Ms Guseva now works as a cleaner. Since they moved to the UK, Ms Guseva said her three children - 13-year-old Ilya, 11-year-old Maxim and eight-year-old Yulia - are now 'totally integrated' into English life. She said: 'I've cried about our future because my children are totally integrated into English life. They go to school here at Ukrainian school and we have a flat now. I pay my taxes, I’ve been taking English classes and I’ve been learning to drive. 'The children were so young when we left Russia they don’t remember living there now.' Although the family want to remain in Britain, and have lodged an appeal against the Home Office's decision, they face the prospect of having to leave the country but Ms Guseva has vowed to not return to Russia with her instead choosing to move to war-torn Ukraine if necessary. 'I will go to Ukraine if my residence permit, which expires in 2028, is still valid. But it is all so complicated there is a war on after all...' While Ms Guseva and her family are attempting to remain in the UK with honesty about their situation, an investigation earlier this year uncovered that many asylum seekers are exploiting the Home Office's rules by lying about being abused and their sexuality. Rogue lawyers are charging £900 to help migrants, both male and female, to fabricate domestic abuse claims to fast-track a permanent stay in Britain. The rules allow migrants who are victims of domestic abuse and are living in the UK on a temporary visa as a partner to stay in the UK for three months. During this time, they can apply for indefinite leave to remain, when usually this would take at least five years for someone living and working in the UK. In March, a Daily Mail investigation discovered that a Cameroon national who was granted asylum after claiming he was gay in fact has a secret wife and child. Marius Kamna first arrived in Britain on a temporary visa to attend a UN climate change conference in Glasgow. Rather than attending the conference, he instead abruptly claimed asylum in Britain on the basis that he was secretly gay.  And the existence of a heterosexual partner back home was not put before the panel who eventually decided to grant Mr Kamna asylum in Britain. The Daily Mail has approached the Home Office for a comment.