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VICTIMS OF WAR
Heartbreaking moment desperate Ukrainian families swamp train station as 210 now dead in Putin’s invasion
A UKRAINE train station has been swamped by thousands of desperate refugees as desperate citizens flee war-torn cities across the country.
It comes as the Ukrainian government confirmed more than 210 Ukrainian people have been killed - and more than 1,100 injured - during Putin’s invasion.
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Meanwhile the UN have said more than 368,000 people have arrived in neighbouring countries from Ukraine seeking safety.
Families from all over the strife-torn nation have flooded west to escape the fighting.
And the huge exodus yesterday converged on the rail hub at Lviv where we witnessed scenes of disorder amid a stampede towards platforms.
Fights broke out in the ticket hall as seats on all services heading away from the war zone sold out.
But thousands of refugees continued to pour into the station begging for help as the sound of air raid sirens filled the air across the city.
Children, old folks dragging bags scrambled across rail lines trying to get onto any train out of the war zone as fights broke out in the ticket hall.
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Emotional dads were seen putting their tearful children on trains to safety and kissing the goodbye - before dashing back to the frontline to fight Putin’s invaders.
More tears flowed as weeping youngsters pressed their faces against the steamy train windows as carriages pulled out.
One soldier dad called Ruslan seen putting his seven-year-old son Georgi on to a train and fought back tears as he told him: “Look after your mum” before the train pulled away.
Iraqi Ruba Hussein, 19, told The Sun how she had unexpectedly become a refugee twice in 12 months after fleeing her war-torn homeland to Kyiv.
Ruba, who fled Baghdad last year with father Ahmed, 57, and mum Majda, 54, hoped to start a new life after studying software engineering in the Romanian capital.
The student - whose brother Belal, 22, was killed by a terrorist bomb in Baghdad in 2014 - told The Sun: “A month ago I would never have believed I could become a refugee again.
“But now we’re all running for our lives again thanks to Vladimir Putin.
“I ran from a terrible place where innocent people died in conflict all the time.
“And now the same thing is happening in a peaceful European country where we had made our home.
“I knew we had to get out when I heard the explosions as the Russians entered Kyiv and now we’re stuck here and having to sleep on a cold factory floor tonight.
“There’s no way out.”
Young mum Miliena Zaschitnikova, 21, arrived at the station with four-year-old son Max and mum Inna yesterday after her husband Andrei joined soldiers battling Russia.
But after boarding a packed train to Lviv overnight from Zhytomyr, west of capital Kyiv, they found all international train services sold out.
And they were left shivering outside the station among thousands with nowhere to go yesterday as temperatures plunged.
Miliena told The Sun: “We hoped we would be able to get a train from here to the Czech Republic but there are no tickets - and we’re stuck in this chaos.
“I bought my little boy a toy train for the journey - but that’s the only train he’s going to get today and we have nowhere to stay tonight and no way to escape the war.
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“Max’s father has gone to fight the Russians and I promised him we would get our little boy to safety, but I’ve no idea how I’ll do it.
“We are trying to smile and keep my little boy happy because he’s too young to understand what we’re going through.
“Like thousands of other people here, we’re living through a nightmare made by Vladimir Putin.”
Tania Yokovchuck, 30, was also stuck outside the station with no hope of escape yesterday as she struggled to comfort her crying two year-old son Karar.
She said: “We arrived here hoping to escape but it’s turned into a dead end - it’s impossible to get train tickets.
“And now I don’t know what to do or where to go and are desperate to find somewhere to sleep.
“No one here knows how this will end.”
Desperate gran Marrietta Sakova, 76, who fled from fighting in the eastern city of Dnipro told The Sun: “There are no train tickets, no petrol for a car - even if we had one and soon we will run out of money to buy food.
“We are desperate to get away from here but there’s just no way out.”
'WE'RE TRAPPED'
Another gran, Svetlana, 73, fought back tears as she held five-year-old grandson David close after learning she too was stranded with no tickets available on any route out of the war zone.
She told The Sun: “I’ve no idea what we’re going to do.
“I’m trying to meet my daughter and get us all to Poland but there are no trains and like nearly everyone else here, we have nowhere to stay tonight.”
“All we want to do is get David away from the fighting but we’re trapped.”
Anna Yavorska, 25, fled from Kyiv after being asked to take niece Dasha, five, to safety.
She told The Sun: “The sound of bombs was terrifying and I realised very quickly that this was no place for a child.
“I told Dasha’s mother I would get her out to Poland away from the Russians but having got this far, we’re stuck.
“There are no trains into Europe with space and we’ve nowhere to stay tonight so I’ve no choice but to keep fighting to get a ticket as soon as one becomes available.
“No one would have dreamed this could be happening even a week ago. How has it come to this?”
MEN STAY TO FIGHT
Men under the age of 60 are allegedly being prevented from leaving by officials and forced to say goodbye to their families.
They will be expected to stay and fight off the Russians as they attempt to take over the country's major cities.
One witness said: “Families are being forced to take the agonising decision to split up. Women and children are heading to the safe zones while the men stay behind to fight to protect their homes.
“People didn’t really evacuate before the invasion as no one believed Putin would actually go through with it.
“But now they are finding whatever form of transport they can to get out — even going to neighbouring countries such as Moldova.”
According to reports, one woman was killed during a crush as thousands queued at the Polish border to escape Putin’s clutches.
Thousand stood in line for the 24 hours without food or water in temperatures below -4C causing “pandemonium.”
Brit Jeremy Myers had been stuck in the crush with his Ukrainian girlfriend - and told how many fainted.
He told MailOnline: “There was very little organisation and the closer you got to the front, the more people were pushing and shoving.
“Every so often there would be these big surges and people would be screaming. There were lots of young children and it felt very dangerous. Terrifying.
“Fights broke out as people accused others of pushing in or of hurting them. People had blood running down their faces. We saw a couple of women fainting and being carried above the crowd.
He added: “There was a strong rumour that someone had been crushed to death – the Polish border guards confirmed they had heard it was true.”
And yesterday a child was killed as Russian artillery fire rained down on a Ukrainian children’s hospital, local media reported.
Two more kids were wounded in the blast which hit the National Children’s Specialized Hospital Okhmatdyt, according to the Kyiv Independent.
Earlier today freedom fighters from around the world were invited to join Ukraine’s army today and take on Putin's troops.
Ukraine’s foreign minister issued an appeal for civvies to step in to keep their country from further harm.
He appealed to Ukraine’s supporters to take up arms against the Russian invaders, like the International Brigades who fought General Franco’s Nazi backed fascists in Spain on the eve of World War Two.
Dmytro Kuleba said: “Together we defeated Hitler, and we will defeat Putin, too.”
Anyone who wants to fight the Russians can report to Ukrainian embassies, he said.
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It comes as Ukraine is running out of crucial oxygen supplies, the World Health Organisation has warned.
The UN agency has called for safe passage for emergency imports through the country.
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