KORCHOWA, Poland (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Saturday visited a reception center set up by Polish authorities in a former shopping mall in Korczowa, near the border with Ukraine, where about 3,000 refugees are taking refuge after the Russians invade their homeland.
Later, while on the border, Blinken briefly set foot on Ukrainian soil to meet Foreign Minister Dimtro Kuleba, who predicted Russia’s defeat but called for more military assistance to lower the cost of the lives he said it would take to win.
At the refugee center, a senior U.S. diplomat heard heartbreaking stories from mothers and their children, who described long and dangerous journeys – the shock of sudden disruption and fear for their lives – after fleeing the ravages of war.
“We heard bombs near our house,” said 12-year-old Venera Ahmadi, who said she came with her brother and sister, six dogs and seven cats from Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, more than 600 kilometers away. “We walked to the border, I don’t know how many hours. We crossed the border on foot.”
Her 16-year-old sister Jasmine said: “I was afraid I would die.”
Natalya Kadygrob, 48, made it to the center with her four adopted children from Kropyvnytskyi, traveling nearly 800 kilometers (about 500 miles) by bus on her way to her brother’s house in Germany. The husband stayed.
“There they bombed planes at the airport,” she said. Of course we were afraid.
Tatiana, 58, who did not give her last name, traveled with her daughter Anna, 37, and her 6- and 1-year-old daughters, Katya and Kira, from Kharkov, about 1,000 kilometers (621 miles). “They were shooting in the street,” Tatyana said. Anna said that her house was destroyed by a shell or rocket.
She was in the basement with her daughters when the explosion happened. “They should be at school,” Anna said. “They’re kids, they don’t understand.”
Blinken then met with Kuleba while visiting the Korchow border crossing, where Polish authorities were escorting small groups of refugees—about 20 each—from the Ukrainian city of Krakovets across the border as occasional snowflakes fell from gray skies.
Groups of mostly women, children and elderly men, gloomily folding their belongings into luggage and transporting infants and sometimes pets, made their way to makeshift processing centers set up in tents across Poland.
The foreign minister said he wanted to convey a simple message: “Ukraine will win this war because it is a people’s war for their land, and we are defending the right course.” He added: “The question is the price, the price of our victory.”
Kubela stated that if Ukraine’s allies “continue to make bold systemic decisions to increase economic and political pressure on (Russia), if they continue to supply us with the necessary weapons, the price will be lower” and “it will save many lives in Ukraine.”
Blinken praised Kuleba, President Volodymyr Zelensky and other officials for their courage and “inspiring” leadership during the crisis. He said support for Ukraine and pressure on Russia to end the war would intensify “until this war of choice is over.”
Kuleba thanked Blinken for his support, but said Ukraine needed more if his country’s projected victory didn’t come at a high cost. He lamented that on Friday, NATO rejected calls from non-member Ukraine and others to establish a no-fly zone over the country.
“Now we are in a phase where we can say: “No, we are not going to do this,” but the time will come,” Kuleba said. “It is again a matter of price. The people of Ukraine are paying the price for NATO’s unwillingness to act.”
Blinken had previously been in the city of Rzeszow for talks with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau the day after attending a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels. The alliance pledged to increase support for members of the eastern flank, such as Poland, to counter the Russian invasion. Poland is seeking additional US forces on its soil, which currently hosts more than 10,000 US troops.
Rau said Poland has already taken in more than 700,000 refugees from Ukraine and he expects hundreds of thousands more to come in the coming weeks if Russia doesn’t back down.
“Poland will never recognize territorial changes caused by unprovoked, illegal aggression,” he said, adding that his country would demand that alleged Russian war crimes committed in Ukraine be held accountable.
Morawiecki and Blinken discussed tougher sanctions and asset freezes on Russia, which Morawiecki said should be “crushing” for the Russian economy. According to him, no Russian bank should be exempted from exclusions from the SWIFT system. Currently, all but the largest Russian banks have disconnected from the financial messaging service.