Kyiv, Ukraine
Reuters
A huge traffic jam blocked a major road out of Kyiv on Thursday as people tried to flee the capital after Russian forces invaded Ukraine, while others stood in long lines hoping to draw money and stock up on supplies.
Cars drive towards the exit of the city after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized a military operation in eastern Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on 24th February. PICTURE: Reuters/Valentyn Ogirenko.
LEAVING BEHIND POSSESSIONS AND PETS, UKRAINIANS FLEE TO POLAND
Ukrainians fleeing a Russian invasion have started trickling into Poland, with dozens arriving at the normally quiet Medyka crossing on Thursday, some carrying luggage and accompanied by children.
Officials in European Union countries bordering Ukraine, including Romania and Slovakia, said there was no big influx of refugees for now, but local media and witnesses said foot traffic was increasing.
A family arrives at the Polish border crossing after fleeing violence in Ukraine, in Medyka, Poland, on 24th February. PICTURE: Reuters/Bryan Woolston.
Alexander Bazhanov fled his home in eastern Ukraine with his wife and young child, taking only what they could carry and walking the final part of their journey into Poland.
The 34-year-old technical manager from Mariupol, 113 kilometres from Donetsk, decided to cross into Poland when he learned the war had started from a colleague.
“I don’t have any feelings other than that I am very scared,” Bazhanov said at the pedestrian border crossing, about 400 km from Warsaw. “I will visit my father in Spain but I don’t have any money and I don’t know how I will do that.”
Central European nations that share a border with Ukraine have for weeks braced for an expected flood of refugees searching for sanctuary within the European Union.
The Medyka crossing is largely used by people going shopping across the border or travelling for work.
Lines to enter the Polish border town grew during the morning. Some people said they feared Russia could push far into Ukraine.
“Everybody thought western Ukraine was safe because it was close to EU and NATO nations,” said Maria Palys, 44, who was travelling with her family and that of her brother. “It seems like it is not the right protection.”
Russia has demanded an end to NATO’s eastward expansion and Putin repeated his position that Ukrainian membership of the US-led military alliance would be unacceptable.
Putin said he had authorised military action after Russia had been left with no choice but to defend itself against what he said were threats from modern Ukraine, a democratic state of 44 million people.
News of the invasion spurred Olga Pavlusik and her boyfriend Bohdan Begey to rush to the border, leaving their dog at home in their town in western Ukraine. They have no destination in mind. “Anywhere safe will be fine,” she told Reuters.
– ALAN CHARLISH, BRYAN WOOLSTON, KACPER PEMPEL and LEON MALHERB/Medyka, Poland/Reuters
Signs of nervousness were growing as planes flew overhead, explosions were heard and an emergency siren sounded early in the morning.
Even after weeks of warnings by Ukrainian and Western politicians that a Russian attack was imminent, some people were caught off guard in the city of around three million people.
“I didn’t expect this. Until this morning I believed nothing would happen,” said Nikita, a 34-year-old marketing specialist, as he waited in a long line at a supermarket with bottles of water piled high in his shopping cart.
“I was woken up. I’m an adult healthy man. I packed, bought food and will stay at home with my family.”
Other supermarkets and grocery stores were also packed with shoppers preparing to stay in Kyiv. Credit and debt cards ware still working and long lines formed in front of ATMs.
Other residents were determined to leave for what they believed to be the relative safety of western Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorised what he called a special military operation in the east.
Some people carried bags and suitcases as they looked for a way out of the city – by bus, car or plane.
Huge traffic jam
Traffic was at a standstill on the four-lane main road to the western city of Lviv, far from the areas most likely to be attacked. Cars stretched back for dozens of kilometres, Reuters witnesses said.
“I’m going away because a war has started, Putin attacked us,” said Oxana, the driver of one of the cars who was stuck in the traffic jam with her three-year-old daughter on the back seat. “We’re afraid of bombardments.”
She said her immediate aim was just to get out of Kyiv, the centre of power in Ukraine and home to the government, presidency and parliament. Once out, she would decide where to go, she said.
“Tell them [Russia] ‘You cannot do that. This is so scary’,” she said.
Others headed to the airport and a bus station, but were unsure whether they would be able to leave.
“We planned to fly from Kyiv to Baku today. But we were told that the flight had been cancelled because of the escalation of war in Ukraine,” said a traveller at the airport who gave her name only as Gulnara.
“No-one is telling us what happened, what will happen to our flight, what should we do, where to go. We have no place to go to. No one is responding to us,” she said.
