Ukraine as I see it

Right now the Ukraine is embattled. It is in a fight for it's life like never seen before since World War Two. There is a refugee crisis that is worse since Hitler invaded Poland in the late 1930's.

This crisis is not a democrat or a republican problem. It is a universal humanitarian problem, one that must be addressed by all nations. Russia has invaded it's peaceful neighbor for no other reason than to protect Russian speaking Ukrainians, a similar excuse Hitler used for invading Poland to regain lost territory.

Putin has said the refugees can go to Bellarus or Russia. Is this really an option for them? They were citizens of a free Ukraine. Why would they go where they aren't free any more? 

Putin is making demands that Ukraine recognize that two of it's cities now belong to Russia and that Crimea is also a Russian territory. 

I also see this as another crisis on the Russian front and that is as the sanctions become more and more crippling against Russia, it is going to impact the citizens, then who will Putin have to blame? There are a lot of Russians against this war but some protestors have been rounded up and shot.

I have a slight solution to this problem, get permission from the president of the Ukraine to have humanitarian flights out of several cities of his country. Tell Putin these are the cities the flights are coming out of and any sight of Russian troops attacking fleeing civilians will be met with force.

Once all of the innocents are out of the country work on getting Russia out, then work on reparation's for the country of Ukraine from Russia. Today the United States has agreed to halt all oil imports from Russia. Let the United States be the key exporter of oil.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has driven more than 2 million people out of the country, the United Nations said Tuesday, equaling in less than two weeks the historic flow of mainly Syrian refugees into Europe in 2015 and 2016.

The scope and speed of the flow of refugees, many of them fleeing Russia’s catastrophic and indiscriminate shelling of residential neighborhoods, have alarmed U.N. officials, including U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, who has called it “the fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.”

About 500,000 refugees have fled in just two days since Sunday, when Grandi tweeted that more than 1.5 million people had crossed into neighboring countries, even as Ukraine has accused Russia of shelling civilian evacuation routes. Train stations and border crossings have been filled with massive crowds of people fleeing. In many cases, mothers and children are saying goodbye to male family members who are staying behind to fight.

Half of the 2 million Ukrainian refugees are children, according to UNICEF. The United Nations estimates that ultimately as many as 4 million people may leave Ukraine — roughly 10 percent of the population.

How many Ukrainians escaping the Russian war machine have entered European countries so far?

Poland

Ukraine’s close ally, with which it shares a 310-mile border, had received 1,204,403 refugees by Tuesday, the UNHCR said.

The government has announced plans to set up an 8bn złoty (£1.34bn) fund for people fleeing Ukraine, including the provision of a one-off payment of 300 złoty (£50) for each refugee.

Evacuees cross a destroyed bridge as they flee the city of Irpin, north-west of Kyiv

Hungary

A country that seven years ago built barbed-wire fences and deployed attack dogs to keep out refugees had allowed 191,348 Ukrainians to enter by Monday, according to the UNHCR.

Local media claim that the prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has softened his longstanding anti-refugee rhetoric ahead of April elections.

Romania

Another border country, it has taken about 143,000 refugees as of Monday.

Foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu has said Romania is “open … to all those in need”, and that the refugees will be provided with “whatever is needed for them to feel safe”.

Slovakia

Slovakia, another neighbouring country, had taken in 140,745 Ukrainian refugees by Monday, the UNHCR said.

On 24 February, the country’s prime minister, Eduard Heger, said: “Slovakia is ready to help every Ukrainian who asks for such help.”

Czech Republic

The number of refugees who have arrived in the country has doubled since Friday, the interior minister, Vit Rakušan, has said with more than 100,000 now in the Czech Republic, most of whom have arrived by train and car.

The surge in arrivals is close to overwhelming officials at processing centres with Prague’s Congress Centre forced to close temporarily on Monday.

“We are dealing with a migrant crisis of unprecedented proportions,” said Rakušan who said it was a “problem” that most were coming to the capital and the country now needed to reorganise support. “Our registration centres can serve 8,000 to 10,000 applicants a day,” he told Reuters.

Moldova

One of the poorest countries in Europe, which relies heavily on Russian gas, had accepted 82,762 refugees from Ukraine by Sunday, the UNHCR said.

The government has expressed concerns about the possibility of being invaded by Russia, and is seeking to join the EU.

Germany

About 30,000 Ukrainian refugees have so far arrived, with most coming through Poland, according to reports on Monday.

The interior minister, Nancy Faeser, told the weekly Bild am Sonntag that Germany would take refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine no matter what their nationality.

France

About 2,500 Ukrainians had arrived in France, with some then looking to go to Spain and Portugal as well as the UK, the interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, said on Sunday.

Ireland

The Irish government minister Roderic O’Gorman revealed on Tuesday that 2,200 Ukrainians had arrived in the country.

The day after Russia invaded, the Irish government lifted all visa restrictions. It also instructed airlines to accept Ukrainians who did not have passports but had some other form of ID such a driving licence or birth certificate.

United Kingdom

The Home Office said on Monday evening that it had granted visas to 300 Ukrainian refugees under its family scheme.

It said 17,700 applications to rejoin relatives were also being examined. A second visa scheme set up for Ukrainians, which involves being sponsored by an organisation or individual, is yet to begin.

Boris Johnson has ruled out setting up a third humanitarian scheme, which the home secretary, Priti Patel, claimed was being explored.

The government is under pressure to speed up and simplify the visa process. At present, applicants must hand over biometric details and fill in complex forms. Source: The Guardian