While many people are fleeing Ukraine, Mrs. Gala is heading in the opposite direction. She lives and works in Brno, but returns to her homeland to collect her family. And she hopes they will all make it back to the Czech Republic.
"I haven't seen my children since Christmas. We were supposed to see each other at the end of January, but..." she pauses and swallows hard. Mrs Gala is just returning to her native Ukraine, to the town of Sambor, near Lviv. Her three children and a little granddaughter are waiting for her there. "The main thing is to get back. I don't know how to do it. The baby can't last two days in traffic jam, it's impossible..." she thinks aloud.
We have photos and reports from our colleagues about the current situation in Lviv. "At the station, probably the busiest place in Lviv, mainly women with children, but also elderly and sick people are arriving from all over Ukraine. Their stories are mostly the same, they are all trying to escape to safety. There are long queues, children and adults sitting and lying on the ground, heartbreaking farewells taking place. Ukrainian Red Cross workers are helping with the organisation," says photographer Richard Bouda.
The number of people in need of help is growing steeply
By now, more than a million people have fled the country. 4.5 million Ukrainians are internally displaced. Before the war began, it was 1.5 million. About 12 million people in the country are in need of humanitarian aid. Again for comparison - before the war it was 2.9 million.
Caritas Czech Republic is helping Ukrainians fleeing the war to the Czech Republic and, through Ukrainian Caritas organisations, internal refugees. Thanks to your donations, we were able to send two trucks with humanitarian aid to eastern Ukraine on Thursday.
Thank you for contributing to the Caritas for Ukraine appeal and helping us to provide the basic necessities of life to vulnerable people.