From Ukraine to Moldova: Escaping the bombs in Mykolayiv and heading west

12/03/2022

Ukraine

Moldova

Ukrainian refugees awaiting to board buses at Palanca departure dispatch point. Moldova, 10 March 2022. © Maxime Fossat

Those arriving in Palanca are mainly from Mykolayiv, a blockaded town 130 kilometres east of Odessa, and a target of intense bombing. Entire families - mainly women, children and the elderly - often wait several hours in sub-zero temperatures and wind before being allowed to cross the border. Volunteers welcome them with tea and food, and some tents to shelter them from the wind.

Sergei, 32 years old, is from Mykolayiv. After several days of bombing, he took his pregnant wife and 6-year-old son to safety in Poland, before returning to Ukraine. Today, he leaves Ukraine through Moldova to join his family. He is one of the few men allowed to leave the country: treated for hepatitis C in Mykolayiv by Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), he was discharged by the military.

Dozens of people a day, victims of physical deterioration from chronic diseases - hypertension in particular have been treated at the medical post located at the Moldovan border post. Doctors Without Borders has set up a medical centre in Palanca to support the Moldovan teams already on site, and offers psychological first aid.

Once the border is crossed, the majority of Ukrainian refugees leave the country, heading for Romania, Poland and other destinations in Europe.

See our latest updates on the unfolding crisis in Ukraine.

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