Tens of thousands of people are fleeing Russian troops in Ukraine. The first people seeking protection also arrive in Germany.
- Between the Ukraine* and Russia* there is war. At least 120,000 people are already on the run.
- The United Nations estimates that the Ukraine conflict* could force up to four million people to flee.
- It is unclear whether the refugees from Ukraine will ever be able to return to their home country.
+++ 7.10 p.m.: According to the government, 115,000 people have fled from Ukraine in Poland since the beginning of the Russian invasion. Those seeking protection have to expect long waiting times at the border on the Ukrainian side, Poland’s Deputy Interior Minister Pawel Szefernaker reported on Saturday at the border crossing in Dorohusk. “We have already had the first attempts at illegal border crossings,” the politician is quoted as saying by the dpa. People who tried to cross the border into Poland illegally have already been arrested.
Szefernaker had previously commented on the slowly progressing passport controls at the border on the public broadcaster TVP. The war situation between Russia and Ukraine would lead to failures in the computer systems of the Ukrainian border guard. The Polish politician explained that up to 50,000 refugees from Ukraine can be processed at the border every day.
In the meantime, in addition to private individuals, companies and local governments in Poland have also registered to take in refugees. The Polish railway company PKP recently announced that Ukrainian citizens can travel free of charge on almost all trains in the country upon presentation of their passport. According to dpa, the Intercity Premium connections are excluded.
War in Ukraine: Chancellor and Prime Minister discuss escape movements
+++ 6.10 p.m.: Chancellor Olaf Scholz* (SPD*) and the prime ministers had discussed a possibly large flight from Ukraine on Friday. How does the Federal Republic intend to deal with this in concrete terms?
The federal states are preparing for the refugees from Ukraine, in particular initial reception facilities should be available for those seeking protection. Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faser* (SPD) announced an unbureaucratic admission of refugees. In Brandenburg alone, space is to be created for at least 10,000 people. This was announced by Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) according to dpa information. According to official information, Brandenburg will already have 800 places available from this weekend.
Putin’s war: Federal states announce humanitarian aid
According to Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (left*) and Migration Minister Dirk Adams (Green*) around 3,000 people could be admitted to Thuringia immediately. Meanwhile, Lower Saxony is planning to expand its capacities. So far it is completely unclear how many people could seek protection, said Interior Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) on NDR. According to Pistorius, it could be a few hundred thousand, but it could also be a million or two million people.
Hesse also announced humanitarian aid. “The Hessian state government would also like to make its contribution to support and help quickly and unbureaucratically for those who have suffered from the war of aggression,” said Interior Minister Peter Beuth (CDU). Thousands of people protested against the Russian invasion on Saturday and expressed their solidarity with Ukraine. The police speak of 6000 to 7000 participants in Frankfurt alone.
War in Ukraine: Refugees arrive in Germany
+++ 5.15 p.m.: Tens of thousands of people are fleeing the war in Ukraine. Some have already made it across the borders of neighboring countries like Poland. “We assume that the largest movement of refugees is taking place in the country,” said Chris Melzer, spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
According to estimates, around 860,000 internally displaced persons were already on the move in Ukraine before the Russian invasion began, mainly from the eastern Ukrainian separatist areas and from the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea. According to Melzer, the numbers have now increased due to the Russian invasion. So far, however, precise estimates are hardly possible.
As the dpa reported, the aid organization on the Ukrainian side increased its supplies days ago. In addition to tents, blankets and canisters, this also included hygiene items, diapers and soap. What is missing, however, are financial resources. “This makes our help, which is urgently needed, more difficult,” says Melzer. In any case, the Polish government’s emergency plan is working well. The UNHCR spokesman was impressed by the solidarity of the people.
According to the dpa, the first people seeking protection have also arrived in Germany. As a spokesman for the federal police in Pirna announced on Saturday, a single-digit number of people from Ukraine arrived at the Saxon-Polish border near Görlitz on Friday. In Brandenburg, six refugees were admitted to the reception center in Eisenhüttenstadt by noon. In Hamburg, three to four refugees were ruled on Friday.
Ukraine conflict: More than 120,000 people have fled
+++ 11.25 a.m.: More than 120,000 people have fled the country since the Russian attack on Ukraine began, according to United Nations figures. The UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees assumes that the situation will in all likelihood continue to deteriorate. “It’s a dynamic situation,” Kelly Clements said in an interview with CNN. The UNHCR is very concerned about what is to come, said the Deputy High Commissioner. Most of the refugees seek refuge in Poland and Moldova, while others leave for Romania, Slovakia or Hungary.
Update from Saturday, February 26th, 2022, 9.45 a.m.: After Russia invaded Ukraine, tens of thousands of people from Ukraine have already arrived in Poland. “In the past 24 hours, 35,000 people have crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border towards Poland,” Deputy Interior Minister Pawel Szefernaker told the public broadcaster TVP. According to him, it is mainly women with children and men of non-military age.
Long traffic jams have formed on the Ukrainian side of the border. Clearance there is also slowing down because the war situation is causing failures in the computer system of the Ukrainian border guard, Szefernaker said. Poland is able to handle up to 50,000 refugees from Ukraine at the border every day.
According to a reporter from the German Press Agency, people at the Medyka-Schehyni border crossing reported hours of waiting on the Ukrainian side, including for people who wanted to cross the border on foot.
Ukraine conflict: More and more people are fleeing Putin
First report from Saturday, February 26th, 2022: Kiev/Frankfurt – Before the war began, Western politicians spoke of perhaps a million refugees should a Russian invasion come. But nobody wanted to believe that. And certainly no one wanted to believe the Western secret services, which estimated the number at five million.
On the second day of the war, Friday, February 25, 2022, the United Nations said there were probably four million people fleeing the Russian “peacekeeping mission”.
The first at least 100,000 women and children are now leaving their homes. women and children. No men. They don’t go, or they go in the opposite direction, towards the front. Or they are turned away at the border post and have to go back.
Ukraine conflict: One million people are expected in Poland
The people who make it arrive in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova or Romania. As soon as the invasion began, 4,000 fled to Europe’s poorhouse, the Republic of Moldova. One million is expected in Poland – the Poland that in the first nine months of 2021 just let in 5,200 refugees coming from Belarus.
Eastern Europe has not prepared for the people who do not want to be oppressed in a destroyed, exploited and Russified Ukraine. Aid organizations are already warning that the rich western nations must follow up their declarations of solidarity with deeds.
Ukraine |
Kiev |
44.13 million (2020) |
Volodymyr Zelenskyy |
Ukraine conflict: Reprisals are to be feared
Nobody wants to say that out loud, but the refugees from Ukraine will hardly ever be able to return to their lost homeland without having to fear reprisals. If they’re even allowed in there. With Russia constantly breaking international agreements it has initiated or signed, bodies such as the UN can no longer trust its government.
But then there are a few other Ukrainians. Those who now come from all parts of the world and want to take up the fight in their threatened homeland. (Peter Rutkowski) *fr.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
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