A couple say their efforts to help a stranded Ukrainian refugee are being stalled by the UK government's inefficient visa system.

Viktor Stozub, a 29-year-old student from Kyiv, is living in temporary accommodation in Prague having fled Ukraine in the wake of the Russian invasion.

Hans Goethals and Dimitri Breyne, from Gravesend, put in a visa application for Viktor through the government's Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme two weeks ago, but have received no information since.

Speaking from Prague, Viktor described the situation as "horrible".

"I'm very disappointed because I'm still here in Prague and I'm waiting for my visa approval, and it's very horrible.

"I've spent a lot of energy and I can't wait when I see my host family in the UK. I hope I will see them in the near future."

He said he had plans to find a job working in magazines when he got to the UK, adding: "In the Ukraine I work for a magazine and I want to try to start my career in the UK in some magazine as editor or chief assistant or get some similar position as a journalist or a writer.

"I hope I will do it as I have a good education. I have good job experience and believe in myself and my knowledge.

"I have also such great support of Hans and Dimitri. It means a lot to me, it gives me a lot of power and I believe in myself more."

Hans, 42, explained there was no government system to help hosts match with a refugee, so they had joined a social media group set up to help, through which they'd been approached by Viktor.

"He's a 29-year-old male from the Ukraine," he said. "He's part of the LBGTQ community, and that fits in within our lifestyle. He says to us that his father lives in Poland but his mother is still in Ukraine trying to get out.

"He managed to cross the Moldovian border. He got refugee status and he then travelled through several countries, ending up in Prague, where he's sharing a flat with other refugees who are also putting applications into other countries. Some of them have already moved on, which again has an impact on him because he feels sort of stuck with it."

Hans, an NHS manager, explained he and Dimitri had decided to help out as their grandparents were refugees in the First and Second World Wars.

"We remember vividly the stories of all the hardship that they were enduring so for us we felt we have the space, why not, we can make a difference to an individual's life, getting them back on their feet again."

But he said they had received no information from the government since applying for the visa, and that calling the government helpline had been futile.

"I don't class that as a helpline, they couldn't reveal any information, so again via social media on these groups all kinds of advice was given in terms of how can we find out where we are within the application process."

Having called Kent County Council, their home is now due to be inspected and assessed for its suitability.

Dimitri, 43, who works in banking, added: "The thing that's missing is the guidance around the process itself. On the website there's no guidance that local councils are involved and that you need to reach out to them. We learnt that through third parties and social media.

"There's clearly a couple of gaps that I think are missing and leaves a lot of people in the unknown and quite nervous.

"Don't forget because you're dealing with these refugees, it can be quite difficult not being able to tell them anything, so there's a couple of steps that could be improved.

"The only thing we can tell him is we need to wait, stay where you are. We're in the unknown. He has to wait for that piece of paper to travel here.

"I guess he's not the only one in that situation, but it's difficult."

Hans added: "Judging by the Facebook site there's a lot of people struggling.

"It's hard when we're talking to Viktor – what news can we give him? We are supporting him and so on but in the meantime his predicament has not improved. He's left his home city with practically nothing, just some documents, a laptop and some items of clothing. Being stuck somewhere not knowing what the next move is going to be is having a significant impact on him."

Dimitri believed Viktor was becoming increasingly stressed as fellow refugees around him moved on to new homes.

And he explained: "His mum is still in Ukraine, his dad is going to try and make the journey to get his mum out of the country, which puts him in a difficult position because that might mean he won't be able to leave himself. This is just a personal situation.

"We just want to support by doing what we can."