Farewells and goodbyes. Always said in the hope that we will meet again.
But the Russian invasion of Ukraine and bombs pounding its cities and the increasing civilian casualties, have made goodbyes so much more emotional. And final.
The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said it has recorded 752 civilian casualties in Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
The UN says the fighting has sent more than 1 million people fleeing the country, a number that is already the swiftest exodus of refugees this century and one that could soon skyrocket even further.
Uprooted from everything and everyone familiar to them and planted in an unfamiliar country with only a suitcase and the clothes on their back -- Ukranian refugees are streaming into Poland, Romania and Hungary.
These poignant images of tearful embraces, faces pressed against a window, a hand reaching out for a fleeting brush of a loved one, is the story of the Ukrainian people now.
Please click on the images for glimpses of people fleeing Ukraine.
IMAGE: People arrive at Kyiv central train station to take an evacuation train to Lviv, Ukraine, March 1, 2022.
Photograph: Umit Bektas/Reuters
IMAGE: People wait to board a train, March 2, 2022.
Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters
IMAGE: A mother and child wait to board the train, March 2, 2022.
Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters
IMAGE: A girl reacts during an air raid siren as people wait to board the train, March 2, 2022.
Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters
IMAGE: People hustle to get in the train, March 1, 2022.
Photograph: Umit Bektas/Reuters
IMAGE: Two men help a lady to board the train, March 3, 2022.
Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters
IMAGE: People rush to board the train before it pulls out, March 3, 2022.
Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters
IMAGE: People look out from the train as they say goodbye to their relatives, March 3, 2022.
Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters
IMAGE: Goodbye, till we meet again. March 3, 2022.
Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
