A viral video shows a sobbing Ukrainian father saying goodbye to his tortured daughter before she embarks on a campaign to flee the war-torn country – while he was forced to stay because of a ban that prevents all able-bodied men from leaving the nation. .
The video, liked by thousands, shows the father saying goodbye through tears and hugging the little girl.
After being filmed from a safe area, the man hugs and kisses his daughter and wife before escorting her as she leaves in a vehicle to take her and her mother out of the country.
They are both clearly seen sobbing as the father prepares the young girl to leave with her mother, leaving the country at least for the foreseeable future.
Amid the ongoing invasion, Ukraine’s border agency has banned men between the ages of 18 and 60 from leaving the country. The agency says the measure is aimed at “ensuring Ukraine’s defense and organizing timely mobilization”.
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The video, which has been loved by thousands, shows the father saying goodbye to tears and hugging the little girl
Here’s how a father in Ukraine says goodbye while sending his family to safety
The girl’s mother (left) watches the man and his daughter hug for the last time
The temporary ban will remain in force during the martial law announced on Thursday morning.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has just signed a decree on general mobilization. All Ukrainians who can bear arms are called to defend their homeland.
Soldiers and reservists from the country are also being called up, according to the decree, which is in force for 90 days.
Legendary boxers and brothers Vitaly and Vladimir Klitschko are among those who have sworn to fight Ukraine against the background of the ongoing Russian invasion.
Mothers and young children wave goodbye to loved ones forced to abandon as 100,000 flee Ukraine amid the chaos caused by Russiathe invasion.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
Explosions erupted in Ukraine on Thursday
Ukrainian world heavyweight boxing champion Vladimir Klitschko joins the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces during the opening of the first Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces. Boxers are among the older men who will stay to fight
The UN refugee agency says 100,000 people have been forced to flee their homes so far, with thousands fleeing the country.
UNHCR spokesman Shabia Mantu said: “We believe that some 100,000 people have already left their homes and can be displaced, and several thousand have crossed international borders.”
Heartbreaking photos show women holding their babies and kissing their partners goodbye before boarding a bus from Kiev on Thursday.
A father, 28-year-old Vlad, can be seen handing over his two-year-old son to his mother, Tatiana, 26, as she leaves the capital, which has been hit by air strikes and swarming with enemy forces.
The images come as terrified Ukrainians are left to fight for fuel, stand in line for hours in front of ATMs and pile up on trains and cars in an attempt to escape.
Gas stations began distributing the amount that any driver could buy, as huge queues formed in front of ATMs across the country, despite the bombing.
Meanwhile, Uber’s service failed in the nine cities in which it operated, but Bolt’s and Uklon’s services remained active to drive people away from the war.
Citizens began buying panic earlier Thursday as banks, shops and petrol stations began to empty when locals learned of the night raid.
Traffic was blocked on major roads outside the capital, despite calls for people to stay at home – with some bursting into tears as they reached security over the Polish border.
But the centers of the cities were ghost towns, as martial law was imposed, except for some cars that passed them on the way out, and tanks, military figures, and some citizens who took up arms.
Russian troops entered Ukraine in the early morning attacks on Thursday when President Vladimir Putin gave the green light to his forces to launch a “special military operation”.
He warned other countries that any attempt to intervene would lead to “consequences you have never seen”, but was met with international condemnation, sanctions and was compared to Adolf Hitler by some.
Vlad, 28-year-old father betrays his son Danya, two, to his mother Tatiana, 26, while saying goodbye before leaving Kiev, at the bus station, Ukraine, on Thursday
A couple kisses goodbye before the woman gets on a bus from Kiev, Ukraine, on Thursday. The images come as terrified Ukrainians are left to fight for fuel, queue for hours in front of ATMs and pile up on trains and cars to escape.
A woman holds her baby on a bus as they leave Kiev, Ukraine, on Thursday amid chaos caused by the Russian invasion
A woman holds her baby while boarding a bus departing from Kiev, Ukraine, on Thursday. Traffic was blocked on main roads outside the capital, despite calls for people to stay at home
Locals line up in front of an ATM in Lviv, Ukraine, as they desperately empty their accounts after the Russian invasion began this morning.
Desperate Ukrainians stand in front of a local store trying to buy groceries as the crisis bites the country. In the photo: Kiev
Along the 332-mile-long Polish border, Warsaw has said it will open nine reception centers to meet civilians fleeing the Russian offensive.
Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said: “There will certainly be a wave of refugees arriving in our country.”
He added that Poland will accept “as much as there will be on our borders”.
The centers will offer food for arrival and medical care, as well as a place to rest and receive information.
Polish Border Guard Chief Tomasz Praga said on Thursday that there had been an “increase” in the number of people wanting to cross the Polish-Ukrainian border in both directions, but added that the situation was stable.
About 29,000 people have crossed the border in both directions in the last 24 hours, including 15,000 coming to Poland, Prague said earlier on Thursday.
Groups of refugees have crossed the border between Ukraine and Poland since the Russian invasion
Poland sets up nine refugee centers along its 332-mile border with Ukraine as civilians flee west
These people pass through the Dorohusk border crossing in Poland only hours after the start of the Russian invasion
At the Dorohusk border crossing in eastern Poland, AFP journalists saw cars with Ukrainian flags on the board entering the EU.
A woman with a small child in the passenger seat walked with one hand behind the wheel and the other wiped the tears from her face.
Next to a small shop, people with plastic bags stood waiting for transport to Ukraine, saying they wanted to return to support their families.
The UN warned on Thursday that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would have “devastating” humanitarian consequences and called on neighboring countries to keep their borders open to those fleeing violence.
Filippo Grandi, head of the UN refugee agency, said: “We are seriously concerned about the rapidly deteriorating situation and the ongoing hostilities in Ukraine.”
People stand in line in front of a grocery store in Kiev, Ukraine, as Russian troops enter the country early Thursday morning.
Residents line up in front of ATM in Lviv after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorizes military operation in eastern Ukraine
Cars in line at a gas station in Kiev, Ukraine, on Thursday morning when Russian troops entered the country
Desperate locals queue at a bank store in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Thursday morning
People and children walk at the border between Poland and Ukraine
A man looks at his phone while a woman holds her child in her arms while sitting at the border between Poland and Ukraine
People walk at Polish-Ukrainian border post after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorizes military operation in eastern Ukraine
Huge queues formed as they left Kiev on Thursday morning as locals fled west and away from impending Russian forces.
Vehicles line up at a gas station in Kiev, Ukraine’s capital, on Thursday morning as they try to escape the city
Residents of Kiev are leaving the city after pre-emptive missile strikes by the Russian armed forces
People are waiting on the Ukrainian side of the border crossing between Poland and Ukraine, after Russian President Vladimir Putin allowed a military operation in eastern Ukraine