According to the Polish Border Guard, 22,000 people have entered Ukraine since Thursday’s Russian invasion.
Many people waited in line at the checkpoint in Medyka in southeastern Poland to cross into Ukraine early Sunday.
“We must defend our homeland.” “Who else but us?” asked a moustachioed man as he walked past a group of about 20 Ukrainian truck drivers who were attempting to cross the border into Ukraine. They had come from all over Europe to return home to Ukraine.
Another member of the group stated: “The Russians should fear.” We don’t fear.”
The group members declined to reveal their identities or gave their first names only, citing their security as well as that of their families.
Denis, 28, a 28-year-old man who spent six months on construction sites in Poland said that he was returning home to Ukraine, where his “everything is.”
“I am alone here in Poland. Why should I come here? “So I go, for my homeland,” Denis said, while wearing a small Ukrainian national flag in blue and yellow on his winter jacket.
“I want back to the army to fight. He said, “We will see, and we hope that we will win.”
Janiel, 27, also planned to return to Przemysl. He is an engineer by training and has worked in construction in Wroclaw (Poland) but couldn’t remain in the knowledge that his homeland was under attack.
“I spoke to my parents, and I wept. “I just decided that I couldn’t watch that, and that I can not just stay in Poland while Russians destroy our independence. They destroy our cities, kill citizens, kill children, and kill our elderly,” he said to the AP in English.
There were approximately 1 million Ukrainians living in Poland before the exodus. These women are often caretakers and nannies for the elderly in the European Union and leave their children with grandparents or other relatives back in Ukraine.
Lesa, 36-year-old from Lviv, spoke with the AP shortly before she entered the checkpoint building to follow her brother into Ukraine.
“I am afraid, however, I am a mother who wants to be with my children. What can I do? She said, “It’s scary, but I must.”
Alina, a young woman from Ukraine, stated that she was returning to Ukraine to pick up her children and bring them home.
She said, “We must, we Ukrainians must take our children away…to allow our boys fight,”
A man was leading people to the Ukraine side of the border. He directed them to a spot where buses and cars were waiting to take them to their destination.
Czech Republic, bordering Poland to the southwest is going to support Ukrainian families whose men return home to fight.
Minister Marian Jurecka stated that the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs has prepared bonuses for families that would lose their income if the “men need to join (Ukrainian Army) army.”
About 200,000 Ukrainian workers are in the Czech Republic. The majority of them are men.
Czech railways stated that Ukrainian men returning to Ukraine can travel on any train at no cost. To reach Ukraine, they must travel through Poland and Slovakia.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian President, has remained in Kyiv as a boost to the morale of Ukrainian fighters. This was despite Russian troops closing in on Kyiv and large explosions lighting up the sky Sunday morning. Zelenskyy banned military-age men between 18 and 60 from leaving the country. The Ukrainian authorities also asked foreign volunteers to join the defense of Ukraine.
Israel’s media reported that the Ukrainian Embassy had issued a request for anyone who wanted to fight Russia to travel to Ukraine. According to reports, the invitation marked “Urgent” on the Embassy Facebook page was later removed.
Israeli leaders are careful about how they talk about Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. It is home to thousands of Ukrainian-Russian citizens, as well as people from both countries. The country has maintained good relations with both Moscow, Kyiv, and other Russian countries.
According to the UNHCR, at least 368,000 people fled Ukraine in order to seek refuge in Poland and other countries.
According to the Polish border Guard, 156,000 people entered Ukraine from Thursday when the invasion began. Some 22,000 went in the other direction.
