More than two million people have fled Ukraine since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion on the country two weeks ago.
Djamić said that western Ukraine was faced “with an unprecedented number of refugees”. People from the east of the country fleeing daily attacks by Russian forces are trying to reach the west of the country or Lviv as a stop on the way to EU countries, she said.
The ambassador said that everything in Lviv had been put to the service of people in transit to a safer destination, adding that the city’s railway station is full of people, notably women, children and the elderly.
The authorities of the Lviv district have set up reception centres where people stay for a shorter or longer period of time, but food, water, medicines and toiletries are in short supply, the ambassador warned pointing also to a shortage of volunteers to distribute aid.
Djamić left Kyiv last week in a UN convoy, and her journey to Lviv, located around 540 kilometres from the Ukrainian capital, lasted four days.
The Croatian ambassador will resume her duties in Lviv.
“We have been in touch with all Croatian nationals in Ukraine whom we inform regularly about possibilities of departure for Croatia,” she said, adding that some of them did not want to leave Ukraine but that the embassy was keeping channels for them to leave open.
For more, check out our politics section.
