There are no formal diplomatic relations between Russia and Ukraine since 24 February 2022. The Russian Federation and Ukraine are currently at war. The Russo-Ukrainian War began in 2014 after the Russian annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine on a broad front.
Thousands of Ukrainians have fled the country since Russia’s attack on Thursday. The United Nations has warned that violence could spark a wave of 5 million refugees fleeing to neighboring countries.
Videos and photos on social media show an increase in pedestrian numbers near the southern and western borders, along lines of cars heading west and out of cities.
1.5 million Ukrainians were living in Poland even before the Russian invasion. People across the country are mobilizing to offer new arrivals housing, money, clothing, and work.
Germany is also gearing up for a wave of refugees, with local media estimating that between 200,000 and one million may flee the EU.
The number of civilians killed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is increasing day by day. As of Sunday, Ukraine’s human rights commissioner put the number of civilian victims alone, including several children, at 210.
A seven-year-old girl was killed in an attack on a kindergarten, there have been several deaths in the capital Kyiv, and 10 members of Ukraine’s ethnic Greek community were killed when their villages in the south caught fire.
Several other children are killed in the Russian advance, including a girl named Polina, who was in her final year of primary school in Kyiv.
More than 280 miles away, in two villages farther from the Russian border in Ukraine’s southeast, the country’s ethnic Greek population faced a double tragedy.
The UN refugee agency called on neighboring countries to keep their borders open to people seeking safe haven.They say that we have already seen the reports of casualties and people have started running from their homes in search of safety.
At the Luzanka border crossing with Hungary in western Ukraine, hundreds of cars waited in a queue more than 2 kilometers from the border on Thursday afternoon. People said they were waiting to cross the line for more than six hours.
A steady stream of people carrying suitcases and holdalls laden with luggage crossed on foot. There were many Hungarian minorities who live in the west of the country, and said they were traveling to stay with relatives for a few days in the hope that the danger would avert.
At least 25,000 Ukrainians also broke into Moldova carrying luggage and with children crossed into the Polish city of Medyka, and lines of cars were reported for miles on the approach to Ukraine’s border with Moldova.
The government says 22,000 of the 47,000 Ukrainians who entered Romania since Thursday have already gone to other countries. Romanians have also taken to social media to donate food and clothing to the refugees.
Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60 have been banned from leaving the country and urged to join the military, after Russian forces allegedly breached the Kyiv capital.
Witnesses quoted by Reuters said the women were seen crying as they were forced to separate from their male relatives and partners.
Poland’s Deputy Interior Minister Pavel efernkar said Ukrainian bus drivers were unable to drive across the border because men of age admitted to Ukraine were being held back.
Ukraine’s government announced that men would be required to remain in the country if conflict intensified, while its defense ministry said there was “no age requirement” to join the force.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry urged men to sign up for the military and suggested that people of all ages join, saying: “Today Ukraine needs everything.All the joining procedures have been simplified. Carry only your passport and identification code with you. there are no age restrictions.
Ukraine’s defense ministry said the “enemy” had entered the Obolon district, about 5 miles north of Kyiv’s parliament, this morning, while videos shared on social media showed tanks rolling in the Ukrainian capital.
The Ukrainian military says at least 4,500 Russian soldiers were killed during the Russian offensive. Moscow has acknowledged that Russian soldiers were killed and wounded. But it has been said that its loss was little compared to the damage done to Ukraine.
After weeks of denying plans to invade, Putin justified his actions in a televised address early Thursday, saying the attack was needed to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine. A claim Ukraine and its allies have falsely and widely slammed as an excuse for aggression.
Putin also accused the United States and its allies of preventing Ukraine from joining NATO and ignoring Russia’s demands for security guarantees. He has also called Ukraine an artificial creation and denied its statehood.
The war in Ukraine is Vladimir Putin’s war. If the Kremlin leader achieves his military goals, Ukraine’s future as a sovereign nation will be in doubt.
