A HEREFORDSHIRE man has taken to the streets to protest Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Rudolf Nagy, 38, from Birley, near Leominster, was born in Hungary and knows first-hand what the people in Ukraine are going through.

Mr Nagy said: "I know how it feels when the Russian army are walking your streets."

"I still remember how we used to have to wait in a huge queue outside shops in any weather, just so we could have a loaf of bread."

Mr Nagy still has family living in Hungary, and is worried for their safety if the invasion is allowed to continue.

He said: "Neighbouring governments in Eastern Europe have to do more. If this is allowed to continue, who knows what will happen next?"

He was protesting in High Town on Friday, and at Old Market Shopping Centre on Sunday, to try and encourage locals to help people in need in Ukraine, and to put pressure on the UK Government to go further with sanctions.

Mr Nagy said: "I feel like I need to do something, ordinary people like us are dying, trying to protect their homes and their families."

Meanwhile, fresh measures to help Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion are likely to be introduced, the Defence Secretary has hinted, as the UK Government came under pressure to act.

Ben Wallace said on Monday that the move to allow immediate family members to join Ukrainians settled in the UK is only a "first step" as Vladimir Putin's assault continued.

Mr Wallace dismissed the Russian president putting his nuclear forces on heightened alert as being a part of the Kremlin's "battle of rhetoric" rather than a real threat.

With Western sanctions biting, the Russian central bank was forced to sharply raise its key interest rate to save the rouble from collapse as the war worsened the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.

The UK Government announced the relaxation of visa rules for immediate family members of Ukrainians settled in the UK after coming under intense criticism over the weekend.

But Labour called for ministers to immediately extend the opportunity to wider relatives before setting out a "broader sanctuary route" to help other Ukrainians.

Mr Wallace said he does not doubt the UK will go further to match the "very generous" schemes that have helped in other conflicts.