Thousands flee Ukraine's capital by train amid ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war

By Jeyhun Aliyev

KYIV, Ukraine (AA) - Thousands of people in Ukraine's capital Kyiv on Friday rushed to the Central Railway Station to flee the country as Russian shelling and bombardment on the city intensify every other day.

Accompanied by almost-constant siren sounds warning about upcoming air raids, the Russian shelling forced people to leave the city for the western regions of Ukraine.

Leaving behind their home and beloved ones, big masses of people -- mainly women, children, and elderly -- lined up on the train platform en-route to Lviv, which is about 70 kilometers (44 miles) from the border with Poland.

Despite a life and death situation, people also took their pets with them to the train.

Having no clue on what to encounter in Lviv, where lots of people gather to be evacuated to safer places, people tried to grab whatever they could and leave the city as fast as possible.

No ticket control was seen while the crowd of people were boarding on train wagons.

Russia's war on Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, has been met with international outrage, with the European Union, US, and UK, among others, implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.

More than 1.2 million people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries, according to the UN refugee agency.

In the second round of peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv on Thursday, the two sides agreed on creating humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians.

Turkiye has good ties with both Russia and Ukraine and has called for a peaceful resolution.