Thomson Reuters Foundation | Natalia Ojewska Freelance Journalist

e-mail: natalia.ojewska[@]googlemail.com

Thomson Reuters Foundation

Olga Striczina from Luhansk with her son Denis (24) in their room at the Good Samaritan Mission in the village of Vynnyky close to Lviv

Humanitarian crises Thomson Reuters Foundation

Ukraine faces „hidden crisis” as displacement soars

Schoolbus arriving at Rybaki Center to pick up pupils. In January 2015 Polish government carried out a one-off rescue operation of 179 Ukrainians of Polish descent and their spouses from theDonetsk and Luhansk provinces seized by the pro-Russian separatists. The risky evacuation took place amid high secrecy to avoid being targeted by rebels. The refugees were transported in buses to an airport in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on January 10. Shortly after the operation a passenger bus was struck during fighting not far from Donetsk, killing 12 civilians. From Kharkiv, military planes flew the refugees to Poland where they were taken to two centres run by the Catholic charity Caritas in the northeastern villages of Rybaki and Lansk.

Humanitarian crises Thomson Reuters Foundation

Ukrainian refugees rebuild their lives after Poland flies them to safety