2022-02-26 14:04 update: 2022-03-01, 19:55
Photo PAP/Darek Delmanowicz
At least a quarter of a million Ukrainians are currently at the Polish border seeking refuge, most of them women and children, a senior government aide has said.
Michal Dworczyk, the head of the Prime Minister's Office, told private radio station RMF FM border queues were "gigantic." Earlier estimates had put the number of Ukrainians seeking a safe haven in Poland at 200,000.
"At the moment at the border are almost exclusively refugees and the majority are women and children, because since the announcement of a general mobilisation, all men from 18 to 60 are excluded from the possibility of leaving the country," Dworczyk explained.
"If we were to count the functioning border crossings, there are for sure over a quarter of a million people wanting to leave the country and that is really a problem," he continued. "We're talking to the Ukrainian authorities... about maximally simplifying procedures. That is essential to solve the very difficult situation on the Ukrainian side of the border."
Dworczyk also drew attention to the fact that extraordinary measures had been introduced "because practically everybody is being let into Poland, even people without documents."
"The checking procedures have also been simplified," he added. (PAP)
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