Refugee flows from Ukraine mount Meantime aid and would be fighters head

He put his job as a structural engineer in Poland on hold, loaded up his Volkswagen Golf with food, gear and sundry supplies, and was on the road back to his homeland — Ukraine, now a battlefield.“I am going to fight the Russians, ” said Oleksandr Zhuk, 55, as he waited behind the steering wheel in a mile-long line of eastbound vehicles in this Polish border town. “I have experience. I have fought them before. I want to be there. ”Since Russia launched its invasion nine days ago, more than 1. 3 million Ukrainians have streamed westward into Poland and other Eastern European nations, the largest flow of European refugees since World War II. More than half fleeing Ukraine have come into Poland. The seemingly nonstop exodus of mostly women and children — most military-age men, defined as those 18 to 60, have been barred from leaving Ukraine — has stunned the world. It has also posed huge logistical challenges for Poland and other nations bordering Ukraine. But there is also growing movement headed the other way, of people, vehicles and merchandise entering Ukraine. Aid caravans and volunteer fighters like Zhuk are among the eastbound traffic. Zhuk plans to integrate into the government-backed forces opposing the Russian advance. He said he had already fought the Russians in the disputed eastern Ukrainian territory of Donbas, a conflict that has cost 14, 000 lives since 2014, according to Ukrainian authorities.“I know how to fight the Russians, ” said Zhuk, speaking from behind the wheel of his car. “I have been there myself. ”It is unclear how many Ukrainians have thus far heeded the government’s call to return and fight. But a steady stream of men has made its way into Ukraine in recent days via the border here, either in personal vehicles or utilizing the concrete pedestrian footpath to the border. They are mostly members of the far-flung Ukrainian diaspora, stretching from Poland to Norway to the United States, now called home to duty. Some carry military equipment, including body armor, clearly visible in bags and packs. Others lug their gear in rolling suitcases or duffel bags.“We all feel a sense of responsibility, to fight for our homeland, ” said Oleg Roman, 47, a Ukrainian native now living in northern Italy, who was walking toward the Ukrainian border Saturday. “When this invasion first started, there was a sense of shock. Then it became a feeling of responsibility. ”Among the things he carried, Roman said, were antiballistic boots, meant to protect feet and legs from mines and other blasts. Numerous non-Ukrainians were also headed to Ukraine in what is being referred to as the creation of a kind of Ukrainian international brigade. Social media posts celebrate the global recruitment.“People from all over the world have come here to help defend Ukraine, ” read a recent post on Twitter from a volunteer who described himself as a reservist in Finland’s military, now in Ukraine. “My bunkmates are Norwegian and American.


All data is taken from the source: http://latimes.com
Article Link: https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2022-03-05/as-refugee-fl-from-ukraine-mount-a-growing-traffic-of-aid-would-be-fighters-headed-in-other-direction


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