With Russian bombardment continuing unabated in Ukraine and attacks on major urban centers intensifying, the influx of refugees is growing, and by the end of the weekend, 1.5 million refugees may have fled the country, according to UN estimates.
Some 1.3 million refugees have fled to neighboring countries so far, according to the head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Philip Grady. “This is the fastest growing refugee crisis we have seen in Europe since the end of World War II,” Grady told Reuters in a telephone interview.
Grady also said that most refugees today find friends, family, but also other close associates already living in Europe.
However, he warned that future waves of refugees would be more complex. Thousands of Ukrainians from different parts of the country arrive daily in Lviv in the west, which is less than 80 km from the Polish border.
Heartbreaking footage at Kiev train station
Crowds of Kiev residents, exhausted and terrified women and children, throng to the capital’s train station to catch one of the long-distance trains.
The scenes recorded by the lens are shocking: a woman leans from the door of a train towards her husband, who stands on the dock and stretches his cheek for a kiss that they both hope will not be the last.
As the train door closes, the woman holds her two-year-old son. The little boy smiles, presses his hand against the window and says goodbye to his father, who stays behind to fight the Russian invaders.
A little further on, a grandmother extends her hand to say goodbye to her daughter and grandson, who have boarded a train bound for the Polish border. She turns to one of her walls and is overcome with emotion. She puts her hands to her mouth, closes her eyes and lets the tears fall. Tearful hugs all along the platform…
Typical are the images from the Kiev station recorded by iefimerida of citizens leaving for Lviv.
Chaos in Mariupol – Shelling halted evacuation of civilians
At the same time, Russian forces continue to pummel Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine, despite a ceasefire agreed in the morning, which halts the evacuation of civilians.
The testimonies of the city’s residents are shocking: “I am currently in Mariupol, I am on the road, I hear shelling every three to five minutes,” Alexander, a 44-year-old engineer, told the BBC. The humanitarian corridor to Zaporizhia is not working, he said. “I see cars coming back with people trying to leave. It’s a mess.”
Three hours after the so-called ceasefire began, the Mariupol city council announced that it was postponing the planned evacuation of the city as Russian forces continued to bombard it. “We call on the residents of Mariupol to go to the shelters, more information on the evacuation plan will be provided below. “Because the Russian side does not abide by the ceasefire and continues to use force against Mariupol and its surroundings, the evacuation was postponed,” they say.
Maxim, a 27-year-old computer engineer, talks about the incessant blows trying to bring the city to its knees. Deafening clicks from the explosions in the center, plumes of black smoke rising from the road leading to Zaporizhia. “We hear rockets and we see smoke from the surrounding buildings. Our apartment building is full of people because everyone is running to escape in the center of the city. “Some people came from the left bank district and said that the situation there was dramatic with corpses lying in the streets.
The situation is equally dramatic in Volonafka, the second city from which civilians would leave with the creation of a humanitarian corridor. Only 400 have managed to leave the nightmare so far.
source: iefi merida
0 Comments
Any Queries , You May Ask