A religious woman holds a cross as she prays on Independence square in Kyiv in the morning of February 24, 2022.
Air raid sirens rang out in downtown Kyiv today as cities across Ukraine were hit with what Ukrainian officials said were Russian missile strikes and artillery. - Russian President announced a military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, with explosions heard soon after across the country and its foreign minister warning a "full-scale invasion" was underway. (Photo by Daniel LEAL / AFP) 
The order of a full-scale invasion from President Vladimir Putin, triggering one of the worst security crises in Europe since World War II, has intensified preparations by eastern European Union states for an influx of refugees. Poland especially, already home to well more than a million Ukrainians, would be the first point of escape for many seeking to escape the violence.
Lines of cars already clogged highways leading out of the capital Kyiv, with the Ukrainian government saying Russian forces had entered the region around the city of 2.9 million. Polish authorities said they are beginning to see an increase in passenger traffic over the border. © 2022 Bloomberg L.P.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Ukraine3.jpg "CHUHUIV, UKRAINE - FEBRUARY 24: Ukrainian security forces accompany a wounded man after an airstrike hit an apartment complex in Chuhuiv, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine on February 24, 2022. (Photo by Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Ukraine2.jpg "CHUHUIV, UKRAINE - FEBRUARY 24: Ukrainian firefighters arrive to rescue civilians after an airstrike hit an apartment complex in Chuhuiv, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine on February 24, 2022. (Photo by Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/OD-Brooks-Ukraine-firstTake2.jpg "A group of people from separatist-controlled regions in eastern Ukraine crosses the border into Russia at the checkpoint in Avilo-Uspenka on 24 February 2022. (Photo: Olga Maltseva / AFP)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Ukraine_60.jpg "Cars line up at a gas station in Kiev, Ukraine, 24 February 2022. (Photo: EPA-EFE/SERGEY DOLZHENKO)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Ukraine_59.jpg "People stand in line outside a grocery store in Kiev (Kyiv), Ukraine, 24 February 2022. (Photo: EPA-EFE/SERGEY DOLZHENKO)")