The war in Ukraine could mean millions of people lose their homes. Already on the second day of the attacks by Russian troops, tens of thousands are trying to get to safety.
Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine is likely to cost countless people their homes and has already forced many to leave their homes. According to United Nations (UN) estimates, 100,000 people are currently fleeing Ukraine. However, the UN is preparing for up to four million if the situation worsens. Thousands have already poured into neighboring countries such as Poland, Moldova, Slovakia and Russia, according to the refugee agency UNHCR. Ukraine has approximately 42 million inhabitants.
In addition to Ukraine, the neighboring country of Moldova also officially asked for help via the civil protection mechanism on Friday night in order to be able to better care for refugees, a spokeswoman for the EU Commission confirmed. According to official information, the Brussels authority is also holding talks with Poland, Hungary and Romania on how the EU could support them in taking in people from Ukraine.
The incursion of Russian forces into Ukraine sparked anger and dismay around the world. The interior ministers of the 27 EU countries announced that they would meet at the weekend for a crisis meeting in view of a possible large number of refugees from Ukraine. In a special session, “concrete answers to the situation in Ukraine” should be discussed, French interior minister Gérald Darmanin said on Twitter. France currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU states.
According to a spokesman for the German Federal Ministry of the Interior, the meeting is to take place on Saturday. Further details, such as the place, time and agenda, were not initially known.
Many people from Ukraine flee to Poland
The spokesman for the federal government, Steffen Hebestreit, said that it is currently expected that Poland will be the first port of call for people fleeing Ukraine. The federal government and the interior ministry would have offered their help.
According to agency reports, the debate has also begun in Germany as to whether and how many refugees the local authorities in this country will take in. City Day President Markus Lewe told the AFP news agency that cities in Germany were preparing to take in refugees from Ukraine. “We expect the federal and state governments to coordinate closely with the municipalities,” explained Lewe.
Romania, a member of the EU and NATO, has now become a transit route for war refugees from neighboring Ukraine. Within 24 hours, more than 10,000 people from Ukraine entered Romania, more than twice as many as immediately before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Romania’s Interior Minister Lucian Bode said, according to the Mediafax news agency.
Of the 10,624 Ukrainians who entered the country, 3,660 have now traveled on, including to Bulgaria and Hungary, the minister said. 11 people had applied for asylum in Romania. Romania has a total of 1,100 places in asylum accommodation, half of which are occupied. Romania had previously declared that it could theoretically accommodate half a million refugees in temporary emergency shelters if necessary.
The Romanian-Ukrainian border is around 650 kilometers long, of which around 274 kilometers are land borders, the rest formed by the Tisza and Danube rivers. There are four international border crossings – three for cars and one for trains – and twelve for local border traffic.
Russia speaks of 110,000 refugees from eastern Ukraine
Russia, which caused the war, is apparently also confronted with the plight of the people in the war zones: According to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the country has taken in more than 110,000 refugees from the “People’s Republics” in eastern Ukraine that have now been recognized by Moscow. Russia has provided humanitarian aid to people “forced to temporarily relocate from Donetsk and Luhansk regions because of the ongoing shelling by Ukrainian forces,” Lavrov said, according to the Interfax agency.
Against major international protests, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the self-proclaimed People’s Republics as sovereign countries on Monday. Russian troops invaded Ukraine on Thursday. It is unclear whether the figures given by Lavrov about the people who fled to Russia from there are correct.
Barely two days after Russia’s attack on Ukraine began, fundraisers for the invaded country have also started. EU countries have donated relief supplies such as first aid kits, protective clothing, tents, fire extinguishers, electricity generators and water pumps to Ukraine. The aid comes from twelve countries, including Germany, and will be distributed with the support of the EU mechanism for civil protection, as the European Commission announced on Friday. In total, more than two million essential goods were donated.
SWatch the video: Russian troops are advancing rapidly into Ukraine. The goal: the complete capitulation of the country. stern military expert Gernot Kramper explains what strategy Putin is pursuing, how he is proceeding and what we can expect.
Source: Stern
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