Innocent people are bearing the brunt of the military hostilities in Ukraine, as we saw just this morning with the appalling bombing of a hospital in the southern city of Mariupol.
“Today’s attack on a hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, where maternity and children’s wards are located, is horrific,” says António Guterres, Secretary-General of the UN. “Civilians are paying the highest price for a war that has nothing to do with them.”
More than 2.1 million people have now fled Ukraine – mostly women, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities – all deeply shaken by the arduous journey. Many more are still trying to find safe passage.
A school sports hall in the border town of Medyka, Poland, has been transformed into a reception centre for refugees. Natalya and her elderly mother, Yulia, who fled the city of Kharkiv, are among those sleeping on narrow camp beds with no privacy. Across the hall, a young woman, Valentina, is caring for her friend’s baby daughter. They don’t know what their future holds.
Within Ukraine, at least 1 million people have been internally displaced in their search for safety. In Lviv, citizens are sheltering in bunkers that haven’t been used since World War II. The temperatures are below freezing at night, however, many are without power, water and heating due to damaged infrastructure.
