Ukrainian mother, 37, who broke court order by taking her daughter to Kyiv in 2017 due to an 'abusive marriage' is spared jail so she can save her child from the Russian bombing campaign

 A mother who admitted taking her daughter to Ukraine against a court order has been spared jail so she can travel to the war-torn country to rescue her from the conflict.

Judge Michael Kay said 'simple humanity' led him to the decision to spare Olga Khomenko from a prison sentence so she would be able to retrieve her daughter from the Kyiv region amid a barrage of Russian shelling.The 37-year-old had been accused of abducting the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, by taking her to Ukraine in 2017 after fleeing what she alleges was an abusive marriage with her 'violent' husband. 

Khomenko was last week granted 72 hours bail by the court to travel to Ukraine but only made it as far as the Polish border before having to turn back to adhere to the time limit and was desperate to be sentenced quickly in the hope of getting back her passport to make another attempt.  

At St Albans Crown Court on Friday, she entered a plea of guilty to abducting a child, and faced as many as five years behind bars. She was given a two-year suspended sentence. 

Judge Michael Kay publicly said he wished 'her every success' in her quest to be reunited with the girl after handing down the sentence. 

Desperate mother Olga Khomenko, 37, (pictured outside St Albans Crown Court on Friday) was spared a prison sentence so she could return to Kyiv and rescue her daughter

Khomenko left the court with a suitcase (pictured above) and the intention of going straight to the Polish border to attempt to retrieve her daughterThe court heard the youngster is currently living in the region of the Ukrainian capital with her grandmother and 'can hear the bombs raining down'.

The pair had tried to escape the city by train but their attempt was thwarted when the railway station was bombed and they were turned back by Ukrainian soldiers.

Judge Michael Kay said: 'This court is in an impossible situation. I cannot begin to understand what the situation is on the ground in the Kyiv region. 

'I imagine the system has broken down in terms of authority and the enforcement of the rule of law. It is a desperate situation, only truly desperate measures can be taken.'

'I have never known a sentencing exercise in which the issue of saving a child in a foreign country has been a factor. It's a decision that I would be amazed if any crown court has made before. These are extraordinary times,' he added.

'The criminal justice system has to have humanity.'He said he was aware of the arguments put forward by the prosecution, adding 'but simple humanity informs me that the only appropriate sentence is one of two years imprisonment which will be suspended for two years'.

Khomenko, who stood in the dock wearing a white turtleneck jumper and blue jeans wept as the sentence was passed.

Judge Kay ordered the immediate release of her passport, which is currently being held by authorities at Gatwick Airport, so she can travel overseas.

Khomenko left the court with a suitcase and the intention of going straight to the Polish border to attempt to retrieve her daughter.

The court heard how she divorced her husband in 2015 after an allegedly abusive marriage which led her to stay in women's shelters on a number of occasions

After settling in Ukraine with her daughter, she was eventually extradited to the UK in 2020 after being arrested the previous year in Paris under a European arrest warrant and has been awaiting trial since, the court heard

Ahead of the sentencing, Stephen Vello QC, defending, pleaded with the judge to pass the suspended sentence.

He said: 'In short, this defendant is [the daughter's] best chance of escaping the warzone and if she fails to escape the warzone, I hope it isn't in any way over exaggerating that, [the daughter's] life may or may not continue to exist for the months hence. It really is that important.'