UK Defence officials are to be drafted in to process visa applications from Ukrainians as the numbers fleeing the war reached two million.
The move comes amid mounting criticism of Home Secretary Priti Patel over the slow rate at which refugees are being admitted.
The Home Office has issued just 300 visas out of a total of 17,700 family scheme applications so far and there is pressure on the UK to open its doors to all Ukrainians as EU countries have.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace admitted the UK Government needs to be quicker and said he is offering MoD support to speed up the Home Office work.
Wallace said: “The first and foremost duty for all of us is to make sure that people get to safety"
“It shouldn’t take time and I’ve offered, I will be offering, to the Home Office assistance from the MoD in the same way we did in Operation Pitting (the evacuation of Afghanistan) to increase the processing time to help those people.”
He added: “Of course, we can do that quicker, we are leaning into that, the Home Secretary is determined to do that quicker, I will give her all the support I can.”
His comments will increase the pressure on Home Secretary Priti Patel, who is facing growing criticism over the Home Office’s response over a growing humanitarian crisis.
Labour said the numbers being admitted are “shockingly low” while First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has called on the UK government to do more.
The row comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to deliver a “historic address” to the House of Commons after Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle approved a request for him to speak directly to MPs.
He is expected to use his speech, via video link from Kyiv, to issue a renewed appeal for Western support, including a Nato no-fly zone.
Britain and other allies have ruled that out, warning that it could bring Nato and Russian jets into direct conflict, potentially sparking a wider European war.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is hosting a meeting on Tuesday of leaders of the Visegrad Four central European nations – Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic – who have seen some of the heaviest influxes of refugees.
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