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Poland is preparing for a wave of up to one million refugees from Ukraine, in the event of a Russian invasion.
All of Poland’s provinces have been told to prepare for an influx of Ukrainians, with towns on the country’s eastern border setting up reception centres and temporary accommodation.
Officials estimate the number of Ukrainian taking flight could number as high as one million. Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski has asked local administrations to deliver a plan on Tuesday on how to accommodate substantial numbers.
"In connection with the situation in Ukraine we are preparing for various scenarios. One of them is regional preparations related to a possible influx of refugees from Ukraine," he said.
Ukrainians have the right of visa-free travel throughout the EU and many who were considering leaving have already gone.
“Russia expected everyone to panic and flee to Europe, to just buy buckwheat and pasta, food, but we all bought machine guns and weapons and cartridges,” Volodymyr Halyk, a Ukrainian in Poland, told The National.
“No one is afraid, no one will abandon their homes, no one will flee.”
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Firefighters arrive at a military building in Kiev that was damaged in an explosion. EPA -
A man looks at the debris of an unidentified object in the aftermath of an explosion in Kiev. EPA -
Black smoke rises from a military airport in Chuguyev near Kharkiv. AFP -
People take shelter in a Kiev subway station, after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorised a military operation in eastern Ukraine. Reuters -
A Kiev underground train station provides some shelter. Reuters -
Clear airspace over Ukraine, shortly after the attack began, as shown on the Flightradar24 website. AP -
Kiev residents leave the city following pre-offensive missile strikes by the Russian armed forces and Belarus. Getty -
Russian President Vladimir Putin justified the attack in a televised address, saying it was to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine. AP -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the nation in Kiev. He has declared martial law, saying Russia has targeted Ukraine's military infrastructure. AP -
Firefighters extinguish a blaze at a house in Muratovo, in Ukraine's Luhansk enclave. AFP -
The house is said to have been hit during shelling by Russian-backed separatists. AFP -
The coffin of Capt Anton Sidorov is carried by members of the honour guard during a ceremony held at the Ministry of Defence in Kiev, Ukraine. Getty -
A picture memorial for those killed in the confrontation between Ukraine's military and pro-Russia separatist forces, in the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine. AP -
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Russia's Ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, attend a Security Council meeting in New York to discuss the crisis in Ukraine. Reuters -
Ukraine's UN ambassador Sergey Kyslytsya speaks during an emergency meeting of the Security Council. AP -
US Army soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division head towards an air base near Arlamow, Poland. Reuters -
An employee works at the gun counter of a tactical equipment shop in Kiev, Ukraine. Getty -
A Ukrainian soldier speaks on a walkie-talkie at his position at the line of separation between Ukraine-held territory and rebel-held territory near Svitlodarsk, eastern Ukraine. AP -
A man removes his belongings from his house after it was struck by artillery shells in Novoluhanske, eastern Ukraine. AP -
A damaged house in Vibrovka village. EPA -
A man shows a poster in support of Ukraine as he protests against the escalation of the tension between Russia and Ukraine, in Berlin. AP -
Soldiers carry the coffin of Capt Anton Sydorov, 35, after he was killed in eastern Ukraine. AP -
Workers look into a destroyed house after shelling near the city of Novoluhanske in Donetsk. Reuters -
Destroyed buildings in Krasnogorivka, Ukraine. AFP -
Smoke rises from a power plant after shelling outside the town of Schastia, a day after Moscow recognised two Ukrainian separatist republics and ordered the Russian Army to send in troops as ‘peacekeepers’. AFP -
A Ukrainian Army soldier trudges through the wintry streets of Schastia on patrol. AFP -
Three women run for cover during shelling in Schastia, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
Russian tanks and armoured vehicles on the road in Rostov. EPA -
A woman shares food with dogs in Stanytsia Luhanska, a crossing point between Ukrainian government-controlled areas and pro-Russian separatists' territory. AP -
People wave Russian flags in Donetsk, the territory controlled by pro-Russian militants, in eastern Ukraine. AP -
A tank drives along a street in the city of Donetsk. Reuters -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the nation on TV and says 'we are not afraid' after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Donetsk and Luhansk, two Moscow-backed rebel regions of Ukraine. AFP -
A military truck in Donetsk after Mr Putin ordered the deployment of Russian troops to the city. Reuters -
Russian state television showed Mr Putin signing a decree recognising the independence of the two Ukrainian breakaway regions. Reuters -
US President Joe Biden signs an executive order at the White House to prohibit trade and investment between US individuals and the two breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine. Reuters -
Mr Putin signs documents, including the decree recognising two Russian-backed breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine. Reuters -
Ukraine ambassador to the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsya, addresses an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the situation between Ukraine and Russia in New York. EPA
Many cross the border every day for work and shopping and return. Officials reported that those numbers were down amid the growing uncertainty about Russia’s intentions in Ukraine.
Joanna Sendlak, a customs official at Medyka on the Poland-Ukraine border, said: “Like every local, we are afraid of what will happen.
“Our local municipality has not informed us yet how to, or what to, prepare in case of the influx of these people.”
Poland is already home for an estimated two million Ukrainians, many of whom came to the country to work.
Sitting at the heart of Europe, Poland has a long history of coping with shifting alliances, borders and political upheavals.
In Medyka, a sports centre is being prepared to accept new arrivals. Bozena Flader, the owner of a local inn in Medyka, said: “We are not scared of the Ukrainian refugees.
“I think I am ready to host some of them or help them if necessary. I don't know about other local business owners as we have not had the chance to discuss it together.
“Our local government has not informed us yet about any emergency measures or precautions we should take in the event of an influx.”
Mariusz Gumienny, the town council chairman in Medyka, said the thousands of additional US troops who arrived in the area are helping to maintain a sense of security.
“It calms the mood,” he said.
“There is no panic. You can’t see inhabitants trying to protect themselves in any way. But one thing is still in my mind: what will happen if a wave of refugees from Ukraine starts? This is what [people] fear most," Mr Gumienny told the Associated Press.
The US has sent about 5,000 troops to Poland in recent weeks. These are in addition to 4,000 rotational troops the US began sending after Russian actions against Ukraine in 2014.
The US government has advised its citizens leaving the country by land to enter Poland at one of two border crossings between the two countries, including one at Medyka. It has set up a “welcome centre” at a hotel in the town of Przemysl, some 14 kilometres from the border to help its nationals.
Some towns have reported they have places for several hundred refugees, falling far short of the potential one million envisioned by central government.
Local groups reported that the border region was calm, with no signs that the order by Vladimir Putin to send Russian troops to “keep the peace” in two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine had sparked panic.
Tanks and other military hardware were seen moving through the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk after the Russian president formally recognised the breakaway regions of Donbas and Luhansk.
The US and other western allies condemned Mr Putin’s move as a breach of pro-western Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
Rights groups said the welcome being offered to Ukrainian refugees was in stark contrast to the treatment of migrants who attempted to cross the border from Moscow-ally Belarus last year. Poland claimed that effort was a Moscow-inspired effort designed to destabilise Poland and test unity within the European Union to back one of its easternmost members.
Poland announced last month it was building a wall along its frontier with Belarus aimed at preventing migrants from crossing into the EU, many of whom were from Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
Grupa Granica, a network of NGOs that worked on the border crisis said that Poland had “violently pushed back” people from other countries. “Why don’t they have access to the same treatment [as the Ukrainians]?” the group said.
But many Poles living and working in the border regions, said they had more pressing problems than the prospect of the largest war in Europe since the Second World War.
Filip Kleszcz, a Polish lorry driver, said: “I don't care so much about the war. We have other problems: corruption. Ukrainian border guards expect a favour in exchange for a safe passage of our cargo.”
