A Ukrainian-born woman had the best Mother's Day gift in the world after being reunited with her daughter who fled war-torn Kyiv.

University student Vika Kleomites, 23, landed in London Stansted Airport on Sunday, where she was met with a hug from her mum Natalia Scott, from Collindeep Lane, Sprowston.

Vika and her fiance, Denys Ofrishko, 25, escaped their apartment at around 5am after waking up to the explosions in the Ukrainian capital on February 24 - the day the Russian military started its invasion.

The pair picked up their grandparents and drove them to rural areas before staying in the west part of the country for several days.

Vika crossed over the Romanian border surrounded by women and children on March 5 with one suitcase before flying into Dublin.

Mrs Scott, who moved to Norwich in 2017 with her husband Gordon Scott, 38, said: "When I found out she had her Visa on March 23 I was over the moon. I was jumping and smiling.

"When I saw her in the airport I don't remember the last time I felt so good. I was so happy to see her safe. It was the best gift in the world for Mother's Day."

Miss Kleomites, who is in her last year training to be a translator at the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, said: "I was excited to see mum. I'm lucky."

Describing the invasion, she added: "My boyfriend woke me up and said the war had started. It was quite loud. There was some chaos going on and it was still dark.

"We were already packed and had planned to go Poland but flights to the country had stopped. We took our clothes and started the car. There was a lot of traffic and we were not moving for two hours.

"When we were driving we saw our tanks moving. We knew for quite some time the situation wasn't great but we never thought an invasion would happen. We were prepared but it was very disturbing."

They altered their route to get to the safer western part of the country and she had to leave her computer programmer fiance at her Godmother's house because he could not leave.

"I waited about two hours to get across the border," said Vika. "It was cold and had started snowing. There were queues of cars. It was noisy but people were pretty relaxed."

After meeting a Red Cross contact she had two nights in safe accommodation, arranged through friends of Mrs Scott, and her penultimate leg was a five-hour car journey to the airport in Romania.

She decided to go to Dublin because she had a friend who could give her a room and it was easier for her to sort her visa in the city.

But despite Mrs Scott praising the generosity and support of the British public, she criticised the government system of getting a visa as it was complicated.

The 44-year-old, who also has a five-year-old son, said she first applied for a visa under the family scheme on March 4 and the delays caused her too feel annoyed and low.

She also remains concerned about her 72-year-old mother who is on medication for high blood pressure and is trapped in Russian-occupied village 62 miles from Kyiv.

Mrs Scott, whose brother, uncle, cousins and friends remain in Ukraine, has not had contact with her mother for two weeks.

Mrs Scott added: "I'm afraid of the worst case scenario that she is not alive - or if she is alive she doesn't have food supplies. I'm hoping for a green corridor so she can be evacuated.

"We all dream about war stopping."

Her daughter, who wants to return to the Ukraine as soon as possible, said: "Our people are heroes. They are very patriotic. They want to fight to protect the country. I believe we will win."