Reports of the 25-year-old medical graduate’s disappearance gained prominence in recent days after his mother told the media she had not heard from her son for almost two weeks.

Portugal’s State Secretary for Communities said Volodymyr Lavriv, who lives and studies in Lisbon and has dual Portuguese-Ukrainian nationality, has been admitted at a psychiatric unit in Essex since 4 October.

His desperate mother this week launched a wide-reaching appeal for help in finding her son.

Volodymyr Lavriv, a medical doctorate student at Lisbon University had last spoken to his mother on 3 October.

Speaking to news site Observador, Galyna Lavriv said she had spoken to her son while he was at Lisbon airport on Saturday 1 October, and he told her he was going to London, but said that it had nothing to do with speciality exams he was about to sit for his profession.
But, he stressed he “had to go to London”, as he had “things to take care of” without disclosing the reason.
He had apparently missed a morning flight that day, and was preparing to catch a later evening flight.
“I don’t understand why he went to London”, Ms. Lavriv said, adding she had asked her son to send her the address of where he would be staying in the British capital.
They spoke again on Sunday, 2 October, and then on the Monday, when Volodymyr reportedly told his mother that before that coming Saturday he would no longer be in London.
“We offered to go over and meet him that coming Saturday but he said he would no longer be in London. He was thinking of returning. He was thinking of staying a week. The landlady in the house where he lives [in Portugal] said he had only taken enough clothes for one week; all his coats have been left. He didn’t take a lot. Everything is tidy. He only took shirts and maybe a couple of pairs of trousers to change into because he wasn’t planning on staying for long”, his mother revealed.
Since Monday 3 October, Galyna has not heard from her son.
Posting a desperate message on her Facebook page this Wednesday morning, she wrote “Please, I ask everyone, for the love of God, help me find my son. My pride. My joy. My friend. My sunshine. My love. The best son in the world. I cannot imagine my life without him. Please help me.”
The Metropolitan Police, which is responsible for law enforcement in Greater London, excluding the “square mile” of the City of London, told The Portugal News it has “found no trace of this person reported as missing."