Justyna warns, owner of a ‘food track’ that has stopped selling food in Poland to come with his van to Dorohusk, on the border with Ukraine.
The situation in this enclave is critical. Cars and buses continue to arrive from various parts of Ukraine. According to the UN, some 350,000 Ukrainians have left their country in recent days to escape the war. Most of them end up refugees in this border town of just over 500 inhabitants.
on the border, various humanitarian aid posts. The most demanded is food, but also basic necessities such as diapers, compresses or teddy bears. “This is because most are women and children. We try that the little ones do not find out what is happening & rdquor ;, summarizes Anna, the co-owner of the ‘food track’ that distributes free coffee, sandwiches and sausages.
“They don’t let men out. Some tried to sneak into the buses, but the Ukrainian military pushed them out, because men under 60 are prohibited from leaving & rdquor ;, laments Nadia, a 30-year-old Ukrainian with a 6-year-old girl and a husband in the war whom she does not know. nothing for two days. “Your phone doesn’t work & rdquor ;, he summarizes crying while his daughterOblivious to everything, she chooses one of the teddy bears that the Poles have donated.
The weather seems to let up. The temperature is 3 degrees below zero, but the sun is shining and it is not snowing. “This may change soon. If it starts to snow there will be more problems”, says Pawel, an electrician from Lublin (100 kilometers from Dorohusk) who has also left his job these days to come help.
The Ukrainians are taken to an old mansion in the town of Dorohusk, which until now was used for cultural events and has now been converted into an improvised refugee camp. A place that is on the brink of collapse. Meanwhile, the buses do not stop arriving at the border and the Polish authorities fear that the situation will overflow.
Polish volunteers, meanwhile, continue to arrive at the border, leaving their homes and jobs. “We all know around here what the Russians are like. That’s why we’re here to help. But please make it clear that this is being done by the Polish people. We don’t know anything about the government & rdquor ;, concludes Justina