The United Nations estimates that nearly 4 million refugees have left Ukraine since the start of the war on February 24. While many traveled together with family members, others traveled alone or with a beloved pet. RFE/RL's Belarus Service captured the faces of people fleeing the war immediately after crossing the Ukrainian-Polish border at the Medyka checkpoint.
Portraits Of Ukrainian Refugees On The Ukrainian-Polish Border
1
Vadym (in a wheelchair), Nina, Lena, and their cats Yasyk and Polyfik: "We are from the town of Chasiv Yar, 100 kilometers from Donetsk. We survived 2014, when shells flew over our houses. But this time we couldn't stand it anymore. We left mainly for the sake of Vadym. There was a shortage of animal carriers in the city. I managed to find only one, and found that with difficulty. The cats fought with each other all the way. They don't get along."
2
Yulia and Viktoria: "My youngest daughter is only a year old. The day before yesterday, we left Kharkiv. We live in a multistory block of flats. When you have a small child, you cannot run to the bomb shelter all the time. The scariest thing is when planes fly over your home. When I heard the sounds of planes, I grabbed the baby in the middle of the night, ran out into the hallway in my nightgown, then came back, then ran out again. I was so scared, my hands were shaking. I don't even have words for what the Russians are doing. We just didn’t expect this. We went to bed and all was fine. In the morning, my eldest daughter woke me up and said, 'Get up, the war has begun.' How is that possible? Russian troops fired on our relatives' car. They were peaceful people passing a checkpoint. The military wished them a happy journey and then shot at them. They survived because they were shielded by things in the car. Next, we will go to acquaintances in Germany."
3
Maria from Sarny, Rivne region: "I'm 72 years old. The whole family stayed at home. I'm traveling alone. In Germany, I'll meet my niece. It's very painful, very disturbing. I can't hold back the tears. Young children are being killed, houses and hospitals are being destroyed. It's very hard."
4
Oksana, Ksenia and their dog Motya, Sumy region: "We've been on the road for five days. During the last bombing, our windows were blown out. Not even from the bombs, but just from the force of the planes flying past. We couldn't stand it anymore. We've been sitting in the basement almost all the time since February 24. It was very cold and wasn't equipped with anything. Ksenia is a violinist and her music teacher advised us to go to Lviv. But there are sirens in Lviv, too. You twitch all the time. A school from Dortmund called, offering Ksenia a place to study. This is the most important thing right now. After all, if a musician doesn't play for a long time, it's very bad for them."
5
Lilya and Rocky the dog, from Lviv
6
Natalia and Mol the dog, from Chernihiv: "It's been three days since we left Chernihiv. We were very lucky to get out of there."
7
Rostyk, Ostap, and Ihor, from Lviv: "We're going to Germany. Hopefully, only for two weeks. We'll stay for a while and return to Ukraine."
8
Valentina, 84 years old, from Kyiv
9
Zakhar and Nazar from the Rivne region
10
Lilya and Iryna Lebedyn, from the Sumy region: "We were hiding in basements without light and water. We just had snow. We heated the snow and drank the water. I just can't believe it -- this is the 21st century. Everyone lived peacefully. We didn't expect this from the Russians. We don't know where we're going. Somewhere."
11
Oksana and Lena, from Melitopol, southeast Ukraine
12
Sofia and her dog Milka, from Sumy
13
Anya and Yarik, from Cherkasy: "We are a brother and sister. We spent more than a day on the road. Then we stood in line for six hours at the border. It's pretty cold already."
14
Svitlana and her dog Roy, from the Luhansk region: "It's our second day on the road. The dog is under a lot of stress. He had several seizures during our travel."
