The bus that is taking them to safety left Przemyśl, the first Polish city on the border with Ukraine, considered the gateway to salvation for those fleeing the war.
On board the transport, organized by the Ukraine Più Milano association and the transport agencies Luberti and Simon bus, there are 35 Ukrainian refugees.
"We managed to escape from the war - says Iuliana, who comes from Dnipro, in eastern Ukraine -. When they started bombing, there was a lot of fear. At first the bombs seemed distant from our homes and we wanted to believe we were at least Partly safe. Even when we heard the first alarm sirens, we didn't bother to get safe. In short, we were worried but not so scared.
When we heard the first bomb fall near us we were in a bunker.
It was dramatic, and everything changed in seconds: the whole building started shaking.
From that moment the real fear began - continues the woman -.
We didn't even have time to get out of the bunker when the sirens started ringing again.
It has become a continuum.
We spent the days in and out of the shelter, with the fear that grew by the hour ".
On the bus also Sergei who should have been at the front.
He does not want to say his age but admits that he falls within the range called to arms.
He could not have left the city: the martial law in force in Ukraine does not allow men between 18 and 60 to leave the country because they could still fight in the ranks of the army.
But he fled in order to save his two sons.
"After I manage to secure them, I will choose what to do", says Sergei, explaining that on February 24, when the war broke out, he was in Egypt with his two children.
He was warned by his brother, who had called him on the phone saying simply: "It has begun, it has broken out."
Sergei felt lucky because he understood that at that moment being away from his country was a good thing: "
"Putin is out of his mind," says a middle-aged woman, also on the bus, touching her temple with her right index finger.
"He is a mouse - he continues -. He hid himself like rodents do while there was war and destruction outside. I cannot help but think of my fellow citizens, who are dying".
And then she turns directly to the Russian president: "What are you coming to save us from, from what?".
At the border that divides Poland and Ukraine, the refugees met Leonid, 21, a Russian university student who works as a volunteer at customs.
In Medyka, as the border town is called, a steady stream of Ukrainian refugees pass the wrought iron gate to reach safety.
This is where families separate:
It is mainly women and children who are fleeing, while the men have to stay within the Ukrainian borders to fight.
A theme that Leonid knows well by now because he works on the border every day.
"If someone thinks that my origins could be an obstacle, they are wrong, knowing Russian makes it easier for me to translate - he explains -. There is always something to do, sometimes the shifts are exhausting, yesterday I worked for 29 hours straight. Every now and then you have to stop, go to the corner and cry a little because the situation becomes too emotionally charged, but it is also very satisfying ", he concludes.
knowing Russian makes it easier for me to translate - he explains -.
There is always something to do, sometimes the shifts are exhausting, yesterday I worked for 29 hours straight.
Every now and then you have to stop, go to the corner and cry a little because the situation becomes too emotionally charged, but it is also very satisfying ", she concludes.
knowing Russian makes it easier for me to translate - he explains -.
There is always something to do, sometimes the shifts are exhausting, yesterday I worked for 29 hours straight.
Every now and then you have to stop, go to the corner and cry a little because the situation becomes too emotionally charged, but it is also very satisfying ", she concludes.