IN a bitter wind beside a bus destined for the Polish border, fleeing Elena Mokrenitsa wept uncontrollably.
Perhaps not wanting to cry in her presence, she’d left daughter Juliana, seven, in woolly kitten hat and pink parka, onboard.
Now Elena was taking a solitary moment to say goodbye to her beloved homeland where her parents remain.
As the bus’s exhaust fumes billowed in the -7C air, Elena tells me Juliana is “sick, coughing and scared”.
Like thousands of others, they had been met at transit hub Lviv in western Ukraine by Red Cross volunteers dispensing hot food, warm clothing and compassion.
As the desperate and hungry arrive from all points east, the charity helps them on to shuttle buses bound for Poland in an orderly and sensitive fashion.
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Elena and Julianna fled battle-scarred Chenihiv – in northern Ukraine – where 47 innocents perished in an air strike last week.
The pharmacy worker fled with Juliana following the “destruction of our town, our hospital, our school, our home”.
The tearful mum added: “The siren sounds every hour, we were hiding every hour, we were taken from the fifth floor to a cold basement.
“We didn’t have anything to eat, we had to leave. We don’t have any clothes, or any stuff, one bag and that's all. It’s awful.”
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Now they will start a new life in Poland where Elena’s husband Sergey – who is a driver in Germany – will meet them.
The mum added: “My parents and my grandmother are still in Chernihiv.
“I hope and pray that they’ll be okay and I can return to my city. I hope it ends.”
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Builder turned life-saver for Red Cross
Red Cross volunteer Volodymyr Kucharsky, 32, a builder in peace time, uses his burly frame to lug cases for the elderly and the infirm.
After loading one bus to the gills, he said: “People’s first need is food, and sometimes rest.
“They are very emotional, their homes have been destroyed. Some are having panic attacks and their kids are stressed.
“That’s why we have psychologists here to help. They know how to help people and calm them.”
Volodymyr added: “We have a room inside the rail station for mothers with children, we have medical supplies and doctors who can help those that need it.
“I’m a builder usually but all work has been suspended. So I volunteered for the Red Cross, put on the red jacket and am doing my best to help these poor people.”
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Historic Lviv – Ukraine’s sixth largest city that once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire – is the main transit hub from refugees fleeing for their lives to the West.
More than two million people have already left Ukraine, in what the United Nations calls the fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.
At the city’s teeming station, Red Cross workers are here to console, offer sustenance and help begin putting broken lives back together.
Laden with juices, sweets and chocolate, volunteer Diana Fylypets, 24, meets a group of traumatised mothers and children arriving by train from Ohtyrka in northern Ukraine.
Their pale, drawn faces and haunted eyes bear witness to the ordeal they have suffered.
Ohtyrka’s power station was hit in an aerial bombardment cutting off electrical supplies to the city.
Diana – in charge of food supplies for the Red Cross at the station – hands five-year-old Zhenya Zalavskaya juice carton and she dances a little jig in delight.
Mum Yana, 34, revealed: “It was very scary. It's not safe to be there.
“My brother and my father have stayed in Okhtyrka, I called them today and the situation is very bad.
“There's no electricity or water, there’s no food and we couldn’t get money from the bank.”
Sipping a soothing tea, Yana adds: “We are very grateful to the Red Cross and their volunteers.
“When we arrived at Lviv Station we had no possibility of buying anything to eat.
“Thank you Red Cross for the hot tea and sandwiches. Now we have something to eat for our bus journey to the border.”
Help those fleeing conflict with The Sun’s Ukraine Fund
PICTURES of women and children fleeing the horror of Ukraine’s devastated towns and cities have moved Sun readers to tears.
Many of you want to help the five million caught in the chaos — and now you can, by donating to The Sun's Ukraine Fund.
Give as little as £3 or as much as you can afford and every penny will be donated to the Red Cross on the ground helping women, children, the old, the infirm and the wounded.
Donate here to help The Sun's fund
Or text to 70141 from UK mobiles
£3 — text SUN£3
£5 — text SUN£5
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Texts cost your chosen donation amount (e.g. £5) +1 standard message (we receive 100%). For full T&Cs visit redcross.org.uk/mobile
The Ukraine Crisis Appeal will support people in areas currently affected and those potentially affected in the future by the crisis.
In the unlikely event that the British Red Cross raise more money than can be reasonably and efficiently spent, any surplus funds will be used to help them prepare for and respond to other humanitarian disasters anywhere in the world.
For more information visit https://donate.redcross.org.uk/appeal/disaster-fund
In the chill of the station square, women and children form a snaking queue through tents emblazoned with a welcoming red cross.
There are few men. Those aged 18 to 60 have remained at home to fight.
'We left our husbands behind and our city alone'
In a picture of innocence, Zhenya giggles and dashes through the throng with friends Ksenia and Melania, both six.
Another from conflict-ravaged Ohtyrka, Elen Miroshnikova – mum of Ksenia – told me: “We left our husbands behind and left our city alone.
“Government buildings and a thermal power plant were destroyed, we didn’t have any electricity, water or gas. It was so cold and scary.
“We don’t know where we are going and what will happen to us in the future.”
The weary mother says the Red Cross – which is backed by The Sun’s Ukraine Appeal – is a godsend.
The 38-year-old revealed: “When we were on the train the children had eaten all we had. We arrived here very hungry.
“The Red Cross fed us and gave us hot tea and coffee. There were even some sweets and juices.
“There are tents here where we can get warm and charge our phones.”
“So thank you so much Red Cross.”
Red Cross worker Diana shows me a storage tent crammed with children’s clothes, hearty food and nappies
A seamstress by trade, Diana's job is to make sure refugees arriving from the conflict zone get a square meal before passing on their way.
The volunteer added: “We have soups, pasta, breakfast cereals and make sure we have hot food for people arriving at all times.
“We have enough food for today but we need more for the future. More refugees are coming.”
Told about Sun readers’ generous donations to the Red Cross through our Ukraine Appeal, Diana said: “Thank you very much, honestly from our hearts.
“You are the best. You are supporting these little children who aren’t guilty of anything. I want to cry about this.
“Without this kindness we have received from across the world, I don’t know what would have happened to us.”
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Back at the bus queue Elena and Juliana’s coach is now full with the help of Red Cross volunteers and will soon depart for their uprooted new life in Poland.
Saying our goodbyes, the mum tells me: “Good people took care of us.”
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