People have to wait more than 50 hours at the Siret border crossing to Romania. At the border stations to Moldova, Poland or Slovakia, things don’t look very different.
According to the US Embassy, when leaving Ukraine there can be extremely long waiting times of more than two days, depending on the border crossing.
The embassy said on Twitter that those leaving should bring supplies such as food, water, extra batteries for cell phones and sleeping bags with them. “Be prepared to walk long distances.” The embassy at the Siret border crossing to Romania reported the longest waiting times of more than 50 hours. Other crossings from Ukraine into the country have been listed as taking up to ten hours.
The waiting times at the border stations to Poland were therefore between 20 and 24 hours, to Moldova 13 to 38 hours and to Slovakia between four hours (only for pedestrians) and eleven hours. The embassy warned conditions could change quickly. Many hotels near the border are full. In response to the escalating crisis, the US had relocated the staff of its embassy in Ukraine to Poland.
More than 500,000 people have fled
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 500,000 people have fled to neighboring countries since Thursday – the start of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. This was announced by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, on Twitter. The number of refugees has risen by around 80,000 since Sunday evening.
UNHCR spokesman Chris Melzer said a six-figure number of people were displaced within Ukraine as a result of the Russian invasion. An exact estimate of the number of internally displaced persons is currently not possible.
Ukraine war leads to humanitarian crisis
So far, most of the refugees have made their way to Poland. “These reports of bombs and rockets falling on civilian objects and even on kindergartens and schools mean that (…) we have more and more refugees on the Polish-Ukrainian border,” said Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in Warsaw. So far, around 300,000 refugees have arrived from Ukraine, and now there are 100,000 a day.
Poland very quickly built up a system of humanitarian aid, helping both the refugees coming to Poland and the people in Ukraine, Morawiecki said. Warsaw must act quickly because Russia is threatening an attack to seal it off. “There are already threats of an attack from the north, from the Belarusian side on that part of western Ukraine where a particularly large number of refugees are gathered,” warned Poland’s prime minister.
1,800 refugees have reached Germany in the past few days. That said a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior in Berlin. According to information from security circles, these are mainly Ukrainians, but also some people from other countries, such as foreign students.
Italy’s government declares a state of emergency
The Italian government has declared a state of emergency until the end of the year to deal with the expected flow of refugees from Ukraine. This was decided by the Council of Ministers in Rome. A state of emergency allows the government to take emergency measures in certain cases without prior deliberations in Parliament.
After Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Italy is preparing to take in large numbers of refugees – the country is home to a large Ukrainian community estimated at around 250,000 people.
In a first measure, the government released 10 million euros to organize the arrival of the refugees. Among other things, the reception centers are to be strengthened.
France: TGV free for Ukraine refugees
Refugees from Ukraine can now travel by train free of charge in France, as well as in Germany and other countries. “The drama that is hitting Ukraine touches us all,” wrote the boss of the French railway company SNCF, Jean-Pierre Farandou, on Twitter. “The SNCF and the railway workers are in solidarity with the Ukrainian refugees.” They could travel for free on the TGV and Intercity trains.
Source: Stern
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