Strictly's Oksana reveals how Rob Rinder helped her grandparents at Ukraine border

Watch: Strictly's Oksana says her Ukrainian family are safe thanks to Rob Rinder

Strictly Come Dancing dancer Oksana Platero has said she is 'very grateful' to Rob Rinder for travelling to the Ukraine border to help her elderly grandparents.

The Ukrainian dancer — who was partnered with the TV star and practising lawyer on the 2016 series of the BBC show — revealed she has now spoken to her family who had fled the warzone to Poland, with Rinder's help.

Platero told Good Morning Britain: "They are now safe in a south west village in Poland and Rob is working on getting them the medication that they need and I'm very grateful for that."

Read more: Judge Rinder: UK's response to Ukraine refugee crisis a 'national embarrassment'

The professional dancer — who is currently in Florida where she has been working as a dance teacher — said her grandparents, aged between 75 and 90, had originally insisted they wanted to star in their war-torn homeland.

She said: "I think that's the story for most elderly people, they don't know life outside their homes or their country and the idea to leave the country is not something they were willing to consider. My grandma had her cat and her house and she just said, 'Doesn't matter what happens I'm not leaving.'

"And it wasn't until the neighbours house was bombed and the neighbours roof landed in her backyard. That was enough for her to decide that she needs to go."

Russian president Vladimir Putin began his military invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, prompting hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians to attempt to flee the country.

Platero, 33, had shared on Instagram that members of her family were trying to flee the warzone in Ukraine.

Rinder — who specialises in international law — responded by saying he would travel to the Polish border to help them.

He shared on Twitter that her grandmother, 95, had crossed into Poland 'with no wheelchair, food or medical supplies' adding that she is 'resolute & strong'.

Rinder has called the UK government's response to the Ukraine refugee crisis is a "national embarrassment".

Speaking from the Polish border he said: "The government have made a number of very positive virtue signals, little happy drops in a dark ocean...

"So far on our journey every single story we've heard say the bureaucratic reality on the ground is a nightmare. We've made the offer, but there is not the staff to deliver on it.

"And I'm afraid to say as proud as I am to be British standing here, it is a matter of national embarrassment."

Read more: Benedict Cumberbatch offers his home to refugees fleeing Ukraine

Rinder went into law after university and in 2014 he came to fame as the star of reality courtroom show Judge Rinder.