People living near Poland’s most easterly point were woken by rocket strikes close to the town of Volodymyr in Ukraine, less than 15 kilometres (9 miles) from the border. The attack is the closest yet reported to the Polish border.
Three explosions “that made the window panes shake” were heard around 6.30 a.m., one man living a few kilometres from the Ustyluh-Zosin border crossing told Wirtualna Polska. They were also reportedly heard further west in Hrubieszów, the nearest town.
The attack on Volodymyr was later confirmed by Ukrainian officials in the region. Three rockets, probably fired from Belarus, had targeted military warehouses.
People who had crossed the border there later reported having seen smoke rising after the strikes while waiting in the queue.
Explosions du côté de Volodymyr-Volynskyï, à proximité de l’endroit où nous attendons de passer côté Polonais avec d’autres milliers de réfugiés. #Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/tUkoeNuSwS
— Pierre Mareczko (@MareczkoP) February 27, 2022
“The explosions woke me up and even now I still feel scared,” the owner of a local agrotourism guesthouse told Wirtualna Polska. “I don’t know if I’ll fall asleep tonight. I even checked whether there’s a NATO reconnaissance plane monitoring us.”
“It’s a shock – we didn’t expect it to take place so near to us,” the mayor of the village of Korczowa, where one of the other main border crossings is located, told Wirtualna Polska on Thursday. “Today everyone’s expressions have become more serious – the war affects us too.”
The line of cars carrying people wanting to cross the border at Zosin is almost 10 kilometres long. Once in Poland, they are met by people offering them transport or accommodation, reports Wirtualna Polska. According to figures released today, more than 281,000 people have arrived in Poland from Ukraine since Thursday.
Some 250 people are currently staying in the Hrubieszów sports centre. As in many towns and cities throughout Poland, local people have donated large amounts of items for refugees, including food and sanitary materials as well as bedding and toys.
“I think most residents spent Sunday watching the war on television,” said the guesthouse owner. “I don’t know anyone who hasn’t visited the border yet to help refugees.”
Main image credit: Slawomir Kaminski / Agencja Wyborcza.pl
Ben Koschalka is a translator and senior editor at Notes from Poland. Originally from Britain, he has lived in Kraków since 2005.
