Ukraine: Russian attacks in the west increase refugee flows

People fleeing to escape the relative security of western Ukraine until recently joined thousands of others arriving in western Europe as Moscow stepped up its attacks, sparking fears of an even bigger exit.

Moscow expanded its operations yesterday, Sunday, with an attack on a base near the border with Poland, a NATO member. According to Ukraine, 35 people were killed at the base, while Moscow claimed that up to “180 foreign mercenaries” were killed and a large number of foreign weapons were destroyed. Ukraine also reported new airstrikes at an airport in the western part of the country.

With the war in its third week, the number of refugees fleeing the Russian invasion has already reached 2.7 million, according to UN figures, in what has become its fastest-growing refugee crisis. Europe after World War II.

However, millions of people have also been displaced inside Ukraine, with many arriving in western provinces, including cities such as Lviv.

Miroslava, 52, left her home in the Ternopil region of western Ukraine and waited at a station in Krakow, Poland, for acquaintances to pick her up. He did not know where he was going to stay.

“We left yesterday because of the attack,” he said, adding that he hoped western Ukraine would be safe for now. “We did not plan to leave, but since it was so close, we decided not to do it.”

Mira from Kyiv, who was traveling with her mother to Warsaw, said she did not expect the Russian attack near Lviv. “I panicked and felt scared,” he said. “I had to calm myself down because we have to keep moving.”

Fighting has been raging around several major Ukrainian cities, including the capital Kyiv, although some progress has been made in evacuating civilians, with Ukraine saying it would try to evacuate civilians through ten humanitarian corridors today.

Russia denies targeting civilians, calling its actions a “special military operation” to “demilitarize” and “demilitarize” Ukraine. Ukraine and its Western allies argue that this is an unfounded excuse for an optional war.

“Houses were blown up,” said Alena Kasinska, a severely injured refugee from Mykolayev in northern Ukraine after crossing the border with Romania from the Isatchea crossing in the Danube Delta. “People have no place to live, we are terrified.”

A glimmer of hope emerged after Ukrainian and Russian negotiators announced progress in the talks at the weekend.

Authorities and volunteers in Central and Eastern European countries have been rushing to provide food, shelter and medical assistance to thousands of refugees flocking to the border since the invasion began on February 24.

Front-line countries such as Poland, which has so far accepted more than half of the refugees, and Slovakia, Romania, Hungary and Moldova have received the vast majority of refugees, some of whom have continued their journey further west.

Poland’s border guards say about 1.76 million people have entered the country since the war began, with 18,400 refugees arriving in the early hours of today alone.

“We estimate that more than one million Ukrainians are definitely left in Poland and we must do everything we can to ensure their safety,” Polish Deputy Interior Minister Pavel Scheffernacker told private TVN24.

Compassion for the plight of their neighbors and deep-rooted memories of Moscow’s sovereignty have sparked a growing wave of volunteer efforts, but the scale of the refugee crisis is such that it has also raised concerns that it will not suffice.

Some countries beyond Ukraine’s borders, such as the Czech Republic, have also received tens of thousands of refugees, increasing pressure on local authorities, while others, such as Lithuania, have just begun accepting large numbers of refugees.

SOURCE: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ