Virgin Media’s Zara King has described the “truly heartbreaking” scenes she’s witnessed at one of the main border crossings between Poland and Ukraine.
Amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the news correspondent jetted to Medyka in Poland with camerawoman Joni McKenna to report on the current crisis.
As thousands of people continue to flee Ukraine and seek refuge in neighbouring countries, Zara said the situation on the ground is “devastating”.
#NEW 🇺🇦
On the #Ukraine border in Poland tonight:Jim & Alona wait for her sister and nephew to reach safety
Alexandra & her 4 year old son, Matthew are just 15kms away-inside Ukraine-but they’ve been stuck for 4 hours due to the backlog at the border crossing.@VirginMediaNews pic.twitter.com/dg5ey9pJgF
— Zara King (@ZaraKing) March 3, 2022
Speaking on Ireland AM today, Zara said: “So I suppose we’ve seen all the pictures, you know, being broadcast across the world and they are harrowing pictures, [but] I think when you actually come onto the ground and perhaps hear the silence around, it can be even more devastating.”
“The reality is we’re seeing people crossing over the border, they’re women and children because the men have been separated on the Ukrainian side of the border…”
“And a lot of them are silently sobbing as they come through and they have their children with them and they’re trying to manage, and trying to cope, and trying to figure out what is going to be next for them.”
“The reality is that some of the people coming through have relatives, they’ve friends and family who are here to welcome them. But then there are others who don’t have those connections, and without those connections the future is very uncertain.”
‘It is truly heart-breaking’@ZaraKing on how Ukrainian parents are explaining their situation to their children
#UkraineRussiaWar pic.twitter.com/HYK8o1nEPd
— Ireland AM (@IrelandAMVMTV) March 4, 2022
“Now the response here in Poland has been phenomenal, I mean the generosity of people right across this country has been incredible,” she continued.
“But of course those people coming through, some of them will stay in places like temporary camps that have been set up maybe ten minutes drive from the border crossing, others are getting on trains and buses and making their way across the country.”
“But ultimately it is a very devastating picture, one of the things that really stood out to me over the last couple of hours is this idea of the amount of children who have been displaced.”
“UNICEF are telling us that around half a million children have been displaced so far in this conflict, and it’s the children, their little faces as they come through that border crossing, it would really break your heart.”
#NEW 🇺🇦
3 year old Ali from #Kharkiv shows the sign of peace as he waits with his family on Ukrainian border in Poland. #Ukraine @VirginMediaNews pic.twitter.com/4H0TAK5U2h
— Zara King (@ZaraKing) March 3, 2022
“A lot of them don’t know what’s going on, when you speak to their parents and you say to them ‘how do you explain to your children what they’re going through?'”
“And they’ll tell you that they tell them ‘we’re going on an adventure, we’re going to live somewhere else for a little while.’ It is truly heart breaking.”
Russian president Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine last Thursday, the biggest attack on a European state since World War Two.
Since then, it’s understood one million people have fled Ukraine to seek refuge in other countries.
