CalCoastNews reporting from Ukraine

March 8, 2022

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

A dozen days into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a CalCoastNews reporter has arrived on Ukrainian territory to provide coverage of the ongoing war.

The refugee crisis created by the war is quickly apparent when entering Ukraine from the west. On Tuesday afternoon, at a secondary crossing on the Ukraine-Polish border, at least hundreds of people, mostly women and children, were seen trying to flee Ukraine. There was a long line of both pedestrians and vehicles waiting to cross into Poland.

Located between the towns of Kroscienko, Poland and Smilnytsia, Ukraine, this border checkpoint is not the primary border crossing for Ukraine refugees. The border crossing is a rural, mountainous area south of the main corridor that runs through the western Ukraine city of Lviv, to which or through hundreds of thousands of displaced people have fled.

In Lviv and elsewhere in western Ukraine, accommodations are lacking. A reporter was told their are no lodgings currently available in multiple cities in the region.

“All the people of Kharkiv are here,” a man said, referencing the exodus of Ukraine’s second largest city. Kharkiv, located in northeastern Ukraine close to the Russian border, has come under heavy bombardment in recent days.

While numerous displaced people are fleeing to safer cities and countries, there also appears to be a flow of Ukrainian men and freedom fighters from throughout the world headed to the battle.

On Tuesday night, at the train station in the small city of Stryi, staffers said the next train headed to Kyiv was completely booked with men headed to the fighting.

CalCoastNews will continue its coverage of the war, possibly from Kyiv.

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