A Ukrainian man who was trying to flee to the bordering European country of Moldova amid the Russian incursion was caught at the border by security officials.
The man, who was found at the Rososhany checkpoint, was hiding inside a box containing baby clothes in a car driven by a woman.
When the car reached the border, officials stopped it and checked the vehicle. Inside, they saw the woman’s two children. The car’s backseat was filled with soft toys, clothes and diaper packets, besides a huge colourful carton box.
“On the border with Moldova, border guards of the Chernivtsi detachment exposed an unusual ‘passenger’. He was found at the Rososhany checkpoint in a Renault car driven by a woman with her two children,” the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine said in a tweet.
They also shared photographs of the incident, which show the man hiding inside the box as well as getting out of the car. His identity was not revealed.
Martial law was imposed in Ukraine after Russia launched its invasion on 24 February. Under this law, men of conscription age, between 18 and 60, have been banned from leaving Ukraine. Though they have not been forced to fight, there are fears that conscription would be enforced if the war rages on for a long time.
There have been several reports of men trying to flee Ukraine and enter neighbouring countries including Hungary and Poland. There is no clarity on how many have been allowed to pass.
The ongoing siege in Ukraine has led more than three million people to flee Ukraine, according to latest estimates by the United Nations on Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since the second world war.
The United Nations has estimated that at least 636 civilians have died so far, though the real number is probably higher.
On Thursday, as the violence entered its fourth week, nearly 13 buses carrying around 300 refugees from Ukraine’s Mariupol city reached Russia’s Rostov region, indicating that people are trying to flee the conflict-marred country in all possible directions.
The United Nations refugee agency said it welcomed the response shown by advanced countries to Ukrainian refugees. It urged these countries to act in the same manner towards other refugees from other war countries, irrespective of their nationality, race or religion.
The Independent has a proud history of campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable, and we first ran our Refugees Welcome campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and launch this petition in the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we are calling on the government to go further and faster to ensure help is delivered.
To find out more about our Refugees Welcome campaign, click here. To sign the petition click here. If you would like to donate then please click here for our GoFundMe page.
