Natalya is lying on her camp bed.

She smiles.

The 70-year-old Ukrainian has made herself comfortable under two beige woolen blankets.

As cozy as is possible in a former shopping center that now houses refugees.

"We're fine.

We have a warm place and are well taken care of,” says the stocky senior citizen with short blonde hair.

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volunteer

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Natalya and her husband Nikolai fled from the attacks of the Russian army.

On Friday, day 16 of the war, when the first bombs hit the center of their hometown of Dnipro, they set out.

"I didn't want to leave, but my family talked to me for a long time and organized everything." The two of them were on the bus for almost 20 hours.

An ordeal for Natalja, who can hardly walk.

She was supposed to have a new joint on Wednesday, but the operation was cancelled.

Now the couple is in Korczowa, Poland – far from home, but safe.

European politicians meet in Kraków

A certainty that many Ukrainians are currently looking for.

2.7 million people have already fled the country, 1.66 million of them have arrived in Poland so far.

But the first reception camps are already almost full.

The government in Warsaw is appealing for European solidarity, and Poland's transport minister has invited his counterparts to get an idea of ​​the situation on the Polish-Ukrainian border.

Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) therefore traveled to Kraków on Friday evening, where he met EU Commissioner Adina Valean and the ministers from Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and France.

The Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister was also connected via video;

Volodymyr Zelenskyj even waved briefly at his side into the camera.

A visit to the Korczowa border crossing followed on Saturday.

A few kilometers across the border is the former shopping center where thousands are currently arriving.

Camp beds are lined up tightly in the aisles and shops, with lettering such as “Mega Sila” or “Outlet” still emblazoned over them.

Children jump around, women feed the dogs and cats they didn't want to leave behind on the dark green camp beds.

Police officers patrol, helpers sort clothes and hand out food.

"Without the volunteers, nothing would work here," says a Polish official working at the coordination point in the Great Market Hall.

They collect donations, help the refugees to find a place and organize further transport.

The officer is also here voluntarily.

“We are the first port of call after the border.

Here people have a warm bed and can first find peace,” he says.

"But most of them only stay one night."

About 2,000 people were in the accommodation on Saturday morning, the official says.

Around noon there are still half as many.

The hall should fill up again in the evening.

Volunteers walk around with signs painted with French, Dutch or German flags to indicate where they are going.

One of them is Paul Bieber from Lindau on Lake Constance, who is in Korczowa for the second time.

"In the past week we took 25 women and children with us." He wants to bring people to southern Germany again this Saturday.

But the district office in Lindau has warned against private collection trips because there are no recording opportunities.

Bieber hopes that politicians will soon clarify where refugees are to be accommodated.