‘Our People Are Being Killed': Ukrainians Flee to Tiny, Poor Moldova as Russia Escalates Attacks

Pulitzer Center

While most refugees, especially those from the Kyiv area, have flowed to Poland, an estimated 350,000 have entered Moldova, one of Europe's poorest countries.

Most of the evacuees are women and children, as most men of fighting age have been ordered to stay behind to defend their country. Now, government workers and aid groups trying to help are conducting a hurried symphony across multiple languages, from Russian and Romanian, which is spoken in Moldova, to French and English. They're fingerprinting and photographing refugees, double-checking documents, and providing emergency cash to the most needy.