Inside a refugee centre, Ukrainians reflect on their losses and prepare to move on

A million people have now fled the Russian attack on Ukraine, most to Poland.

In a warehouse fifteen kilometres inside Poland’s border with Ukraine, sisters Tanya and Oksana lay under blankets on army cots, exhausted after the journey from Kyiv.

After enduring days of Russian shelling, they had boarded a train to Lviv, then bussed to the Medyka border and walked across. Tanya’s daughter, Elizabeth, came with them.

Polish authorities brought them to Korczowa, where a sprawling industrial site has been converted into a reception centre for refugees displaced by the Russian invasion.

Outside the building, police kept watch as buses arrived to deliver refugees. Food trucks handed out sandwiches and soup. Diapers and baby food were left on tables for families.

“I you want to go to Bonn, come to the reception desk,” said an announcement broadcast over a loudspeaker positioned at the centre’s main entrance. “Five people to Bonn.”

With the flow of refugees caused by President Vladimir Putin’s attempt to seize his neighboring nation now surpassing one million, the European Union agreed to open its doors to Ukrainians.

The EU said those fleeing “Putin’s bombs” would be eligible for temporary residence for up to three years, and have the ability to work and receive housing, medical and social welfare benefits.

Canada also announced a program for Ukraine refugees, which was to come into effect in the coming weeks.