#StandWithUkraine: War splits Ukrainian families as women and children seek safety in Romania and Europe

On February 24, on the day when Romanians traditionally celebrate Dragobete – the local equivalent of St. Valentine’s Day – Russia attacked Ukraine and shocked the whole world. It is for the first time since the end of the war in Yugoslavia, over 20 years ago, when Romania sees war at its border.

The fierce resistance of the Ukrainian people and their president Volodymyr Zelenskyy rallied unprecedented world support for the country and turned Russia and its leader Vladimir Putin into a pariah on the international scene.

In spite of its people’s heroism, Ukraine’s once peaceful and lively cities, including the capital Kyiv, turned into battlegrounds, and hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian people, mostly women and children, have already fled from the conflict and went into Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania as refugees.

Romania opened its borders to Ukrainian refugees from the first day of the conflict. Over 70,000 Ukrainian citizens crossed the border to Romania between February 24 and February 28, according to official data. Most of them are women with children as the men are not allowed to leave Ukraine. Many entered Romania by foot as the car lines at the Romanian border crossing points were kilometers long.

Here are some photos that were taken by Inquam photographers Alex Nicodim, Catalin Urdoi, Casian Mitu, Silviu Filip and Paul Ursachi at the border points in Siret and Sighetu Marmatiei: