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Warsaw lies only 135 kilometres from the Belarus border — or as some residents measure it, seven hours' drive in a Russian tank.
Brimming with Ukrainian refugees telling stories of appalling Russian brutality as air-raid siren tests ring out, fear is clearly contagious in Poland’s capital.
Regardless of the likelihood of Russian President Vladimir Putin's ambitions stretching beyond Ukraine to Poland, the merest prospect of him turning his attention to the nation of 38 million people or his weapons hitting the country by mistake has led to a state of alarm.
“We think that the next step for Putin will be Poland, that we can expect the Russian army here in one or two years,” Michael Skievlowski, 52, told The National near Warsaw Central Station in the heart of the city.
On the surface, Warsaw functions like any other European city. But the increased security is palpable, with armed personnel in the streets speaking into bullhorns and speeding police convoys given a respectful berth by motorists.
The thought of Russian tanks rolling down the street — as they continue to do across towns and cities in neighbouring Ukraine — does not appear fantastical.
“We have been very scared,” said Alicja Szcerbak, pushing her 1-year-old baby daughter in a pram. “Frankly speaking, I wake up every day thinking, what will happen next? There is a war and it is very worrying for us.”
That anxiety has been enhanced not only by reports from the war but by the harrowed faces of Ukrainian refugees pouring into Poland, with tales of the latest Russian atrocities.
From among the 2.5 million Ukrainian refugees who have arrived so far, Ms Szcerbak, 32, a medical student, has given temporary shelter to four in her 45-square-metre, one-bedroom flat that she shares with her husband and child.
“It was very traumatic. They had witnessed some bad things, so it was very difficult for us all. It makes it feel that the war is very close. It's really emotional because I come home and I really cry because of the situation some people are in, because they don't have a place to stay. We really want to help them but our flat is too small.”
The war has also led to skyrocketing prices: in the past two weeks, a packet of butter has almost doubled in price to 11 zloty ($2.58) and the monthly rental for a two-bedroom flat has soared from 2,500 zloty to more than 4,000 zloty ($936). And with the worldwide shortage of oil, higher fuel costs are adding to the problems.
Military analysts suggest that Russian setbacks in Ukraine, with the loss of an estimated 15,000 soldiers and hundreds of tanks, mean that an attack on Poland is unlikely.
But the war’s proximity and reported Russian atrocities has had a significant psychological impact on Warsaw.
When discussing the threat from Moscow, its citizens point worriedly to the sky in genuine concern over a potential missile strike.
“I was speaking with some Ukrainian people and they told me their country could fight until the end of May and then Putin will come to Poland in June,” said event organiser Robert Rychliski, 42. “I think it’s 50-50 that Poland will be in the war as well.”
Mr Rychliski fears Russia could still unleash its deadliest threat.
“Me, my friends, my mother, we all think a nuclear attack on Poland is very possible. We are very scared.”
But he hopes the US' “special rockets” will deal with them.
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A boy rides a bicycle past a house that was damaged by shelling in Andriivka village, not far from Kyiv. EPA -
A destroyed residential building in Mariupol, south-eastern Ukraine. Reuters -
Firefighters at work on the outskirts of Kharkiv, north-east Ukraine. EPA -
A torn Ukrainian flag in front of a ruined Mariupol apartment building. Reuters -
Residents who cleared debris after Russian shelling eat lunch outside a damaged building in Makariv, near Kyiv. EPA -
Children play with a therapeutic dog at a shelter organised by volunteers in Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine. Reuters -
A girl stands by the door of a bunker in Severodonetsk, in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region, as Russian troops intensify a campaign to take the strategic port city of Mariupol. AFP -
A firefighter at work following a missile attack near Kharkiv International Airport. Reuters -
A Ukrainian fighter walks in front of a destroyed house in Bohdanivka village, north-east of Kyiv. AFP -
Two women hug outside a heavily damaged apartment block following an artillery attack in Kharkiv. Reuters -
Ukrainian soldiers guard the village of Barvinkove, as Russia's invasion on Ukraine continues. Reuters -
Leonid Serdiuchenko, a Ukrainian commander, stands next to destroyed vehicles outside Barvinkove. Reuters -
A woman carries the portrait of Dmytro Stefienko, 32, a civilian killed during the war, during his funeral in Bucha, Ukraine. AP -
A Russian soldier collects weapons from inside the Mariupol drama theatre in Ukraine. AFP -
Relatives and friends attend the funeral of Andriy Matviychuk, 37, who served as a territorial defence soldier, who was captured and killed by the Russian army in Bucha, Ukraine. AP -
Anatoliy Morykin, 45, left, mourns the death of his mother, Valentyna Morykina, 82, who died in a retirement home in Bucha during the Russian invasion. AP -
Nadiya, 65, shows a hole in a wall of a building after shelling in Zalissya, Ukraine. EPA -
A booby trap found by locals near their home in Zalissya. EPA -
Debris of a school bus near a damaged school that was a base for Russian troops in Bohdanivka, Ukraine. EPA -
A man examines the debris of a destroyed Russian tank in Bohdanivka. EPA -
President Joe Biden speaks to the media before boarding Air Force One at Des Moines International Airport, en route to Washington. AP -
Valentina Saroyan sits in the basement of a school in Yahidne, near Chernihiv, Ukraine. AP -
Vasyl Cherepenko stands next to a mass grave at a cemetery in Yahidne, near Dnipro, Ukraine. AP -
Oksana, second from left, and Yevhen, right, talk with police officers next to their apartment building damaged by shelling in Irpin, Ukraine. AP -
Women bid farewell to relatives as they leave the Slovyansk central station in the Donbas region. AFP -
The partially destroyed Mariupol drama theatre in Ukraine, hit on March 16 by an air strike. AFP -
A man embraces his wife as she prepares to board a train at Slovyansk central station in the Donbas region. AFP -
A woman walks through a damaged apartment building after a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP -
A missile pierces the road in front of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration building amid Russia's attack on Ukraine. Reuters -
A boy walks by unexploded Russian shells in the village of Andriyivka close to Kyiv, Ukraine. AP -
Ukrainian tanks move down a street in Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP -
A man walks past a storage place for burned armed vehicles and cars, on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP -
Local residents stand on top of a Russian tank on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP -
Ukrainian families, who have fled Kherson amid the Russian invasion, watch a dolphin show at a hotel in Odesa, Ukraine. Reuters -
Residents stand outside their apartments as shops burn after a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP -
Irina Szymanska holds her baby in a temporary shelter at the central train station for displaced people heading to Poland in Lviv, Ukraine. Getty Images -
A man walks in his yard, damaged by shelling, in the village of Andriivka, Ukraine. EPA -
Sixty-two-year-old Luba hugs a Ukrainian servicewoman in Andriivka. EPA -
A woman washes clothes in the yard of a ruined house in Andriivka. EPA -
Russian soldiers patrol a street in Volnovakha, in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. The picture was taken during a trip organised by the Russian military. AFP -
Russian mine clearers search for explosive objects in a building the Russian authorities say was damaged by Ukrainian shelling. AFP -
A woman reads a book as residents find shelter from shelling in a metro station in Kharkiv. Reuters -
Firefighters try to contain a fire at a plant in Kharkiv following Russian shelling. Reuters -
Farm owner Zlobina Lubov tends to her animals in the village of Malaya Rohan, Ukraine. Reuters -
A bathtub is seen inside a building that was heavily damaged by shelling in Kharkiv. Reuters -
A man looks out of his window, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Borodianka. Reuters -
Soldiers 'came to my house and said go to the basement' Zinaida Makishaiva, 82, said, before they started to shoot around her. 'God saved my life,' she said. Reuters -
A mother waits for police officers to exhume the body of her son from a well at a fuel station in Buzova, Kyiv region. According to the head of the village, he was killed by Russian soldiers. Reuters
The deployment of anti-ballistic US Patriot missile batteries and Britain’s Sky Sabre air defence as well as more troops and military hardware has provided some comfort. But for Poland, which suffered appalling loses from both German and Russian invasions during the Second World War, this is not enough to deter Mr Putin.
“It's not enough for such an army like Russia — it’s a piece cake for them to bring 200,000 soldiers here,” said Mr Skievlowski, a pharmaceutical executive.
“The war will come to Poland and the Russians will only stop in the eastern half of our country because all the Nato bases are in the west. We need more weapons, more of everything to stop them.”
As the cold Warsaw night closed in, Ms Szcerbak held her daughter, the concern for their future clearly on her mind.
“It's really hard to say this in English because I don't know the words, but we are angry and we are sad,” she said. “We find it so difficult to understand, to believe that this is happening in Europe. I just don't know how to explain it.”
