Elderly Ukrainians Struggle to Cross Bombed Bridge in Snowy Weather via Humanitarian Corridor

CBS News
CBS News

Two million Ukrainians have fled the country so far — more than half of whom are children, according to the United Nations.

The first refugees being evacuated from Northeastern Ukraine began coming through the humanitarian corridors that have been set up under the auspices of the International Red Cross.    

They will add to the 2 million Ukrainians the United Nations says have fled the country so far — more than half of whom are children.

And as if the trauma of constant shelling from Russian forces isn't enough, the exodus has been made more difficult thanks to bitter cold and snow.

Elderly refugees were seen making their way across a bombed out bridge while evacuating their besieged Ukrainian town. One woman could barely walk, another was carried on a stretcher and a third was carried in a shopping cart.

There was a heart-wrenching scene when a father was torn from his wife and baby. 

CBS Mornings co-anchor Tony Dokoupil told Inside Edition from the Polish border that fresh waves of refugees were pouring into the country.

“We have an extraordinary situation on the Poland-Ukraine border—women and children streaming over by the thousands,” Dokoupil said.

For Dokoupil, a father of four, the plight of the children is heartbreaking.

“It is a very, very difficult situation to witness and even worse — magnitudes worse — if you can imagine it, for the people experiencing it first hand,” Dokoupil said.

Related Stories