A death in Ukraine right now is not a standard repatriation case, and it shouldn’t be treated as one. If someone you love has died there, call the FCDO Emergency Travel Line immediately, 020 7008 5000. Don’t wait for a quiet moment to make that call.
The airport closure changed everything
Boryspil International Airport near Kyiv, Ukraine’s main international hub, has been closed to civilian traffic since the full-scale invasion began on 24 February 2022. There’s simply no civilian air cargo leaving the country directly any more. Every current route runs overland into Poland first: the Medyka crossing on the Polish side, Shehyni on the Ukrainian side, then on to Przemysl and Rzeszow. Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport handles the cargo connection from there, with Warsaw Chopin and Krakow John Paul II offering onward UK services too. That road journey from Kyiv to the Polish border typically takes 8 to 12 hours, depending on conditions and how long the crossing itself takes.
Who this actually affects
The British nationals dying in Ukraine now are mostly people who were already living there before the war, journalists covering it, humanitarian workers and volunteers, and NGO staff supporting the civilian population. A small number of British nationals who joined Ukrainian defence efforts have also died. Each category involves a different legal framework, which is exactly why your repatriation specialist has to be talking to FCDO from day one of the case.
Consular support without a functioning Kyiv Embassy
The British Embassy in Kyiv paused normal consular work from its own premises after the invasion. Support is now coordinated through the FCDO Emergency Travel Line and a British presence kept in Lviv. Call London first, on 020 7008 5000, and let the specialist coordinator work from there.
Documentation across a moving front line
Everything official in Ukraine comes out in Ukrainian, Cyrillic script, and needs certified English translation before it means anything to UK authorities. That much is standard. What isn’t standard is the underlying access: government-held areas keep processing documentation more or less as normal, but areas under active fighting or occupation may have no working administrative process at all. Conditions here shift, sometimes quickly. Always check the latest FCDO travel advice rather than relying on anything written down some weeks ago.
Realistic timelines
Six to twelve weeks is the honest minimum for a Ukraine case. Where active fighting affects the area, a case may simply not be able to move forward until conditions change, and no repatriation firm should tell you otherwise.
Read repatriation from a conflict zone or crisis area, or see repatriation from Ukraine to the UK for the full country breakdown.
Contact Repatriate Service on +44 7703 577246 at any hour, or use the enquiry form below.