Britain is refusing asylum to Ukrainians: a teenager with panic attacks was advised to wear headphones during Russian strikes on Ukraine, – Sky News reports

The United Kingdom has sharply reduced the number of approved asylum applications from refugees from Ukraine. Families are being advised to return to western Ukraine, which is being described as a “safe” area.

This is stated in a Sky News report.

One family, whose teenage daughter suffers from panic attacks after fleeing Kyiv at the start of the full-scale war, was denied asylum and told they could return to Ukraine and use noise-cancelling headphones.

Sky News reviewed a refusal letter from the UK Home Office.

“You may wish to consider purchasing noise-cancelling headphones and soundproofing rooms to alleviate your daughter’s panic-attack symptoms,” the document says.

The teenager’s mother said she took her five children out of Ukraine on the second day of the war, leaving behind her husband and mother-in-law.

“My daughter developed panic attacks because of this, and doctors in the UK have been helping her, even though she hadn’t had them for a long time. But she’s a teenager, not a small child, so she understands everything, and since she was told to return to Ukraine and simply wear noise-cancelling headphones, her panic attacks have started again,” the woman said.

The family was told they could move to Chernivtsi, Ternopil, or Rivne, but the mother considers those places unsafe as well. Russia can strike any city in Ukraine.

“The Foreign Office travel advice says that all travel to western Ukraine, except for essential travel, is dangerous. Why are my children worth less than British people?” the Ukrainian woman asked.

The family is now appealing the asylum refusal.

Sky News writes that, according to lawyers, since April 2025 most asylum applications from Ukrainians have been rejected. The British government disputes that assessment, but Home Office data for 2024–2025 still show a sharp drop in the number of Ukrainians granted asylum: as of September 2025, London was approving fewer than 5% of applications.

In total, since February 24, 2022, the country has taken in about 310,000 Ukrainian refugees, the article says.