After the Russian war of aggression in the Ukraine, Hesse prepares to take in refugees.
The city of Frankfurt has already started planning scenarios where a larger number of people could be accommodated in the city;
from halls to hotels.
The Frankfurt Social Affairs Director Elke Voitl (Die Grünen) said in an interview with the FAZ (Monday edition) that she expects “that refugees will arrive in Frankfurt in the next few days.
There is a large Ukrainian community here.” More than 2,300 Ukrainians lived in Frankfurt.
According to Voitl, many refugees will flee to relatives and friends.
"Frankfurt is also a major transport hub." She sees the organization for taking in refugees as well advanced.
The structures are already in place with the municipal civil protection.
Marie Lisa Kehler
Deputy head of the regional section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
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Catherine Iskandar
Responsible editor for the "Rhein-Main" department of the Sunday newspaper.
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Donations in kind for Ukrainian refugees were collected at the Frankfurt Hauptwache on Sunday, including blankets, sleeping bags, hygiene items and food.
Hundreds of volunteers formed a human chain so that the donations could be loaded as quickly as possible.
Solidarity with Ukraine
Interior Minister Peter Beuth (CDU) had already announced on Friday that "for those who have suffered from the war of aggression", the Hessian state government wanted to "make its contribution to support and help quickly and unbureaucratically".
On the one hand, the aid is aimed at the Ukrainians who already live in Hesse.
According to the Interior Ministry, that's more than 10,000.
However, the authorities are increasingly preparing to house Ukrainian refugees in Hesse in the future – regardless of family ties.
Meanwhile, several thousand people expressed solidarity with Ukraine over the weekend.
The demonstrations were largely peaceful, the police said.
On Saturday and Sunday, the protest shifted from the large squares in the city center to the Russian Consulate General.
However, a protester was arrested there on Sunday after he threw an egg at the facade of the building.
On Saturday, the rally on Goetheplatz and Roßmarkt showed how great the solidarity with Ukraine is in Frankfurt alone.
As early as midday, people were out and about at the main guard station with Ukraine flags and self-made signs.
Not only Ukrainians were among them, but also many Germans and Americans.
Old and young people, just as many families.
The parties Green, FDP, Volt, SPD, CDU and Die Linke as well as the German-Ukrainian Society and the Europa Union Frankfurt called for the demo.
uncertain destinies
One participant reported that she had many friends in Ukraine.
She found out about the Russian invasion by email.
At least one contact has since been lost.
The woman does not know whether the friend is still alive.
Maybe she's on the run.
According to some participants, they wanted to use the opportunity to “shake up German politics”.
For example, they called for stronger German intervention and tougher sanctions - demands that were met the same evening with the news that Germany was now delivering weapons to Ukraine to support it and had also decided to exclude Russia from the SWIFT system.
In addition, German airspace was closed to Russian aircraft.
A Ukrainian from the Rhine-Main area reported that
that her family had to leave home in Ukraine because the city had been bombed.
Hundreds of messages of peace were also shown on Goetheplatz on Saturday: the signs read "Save Ukraine" and "Stop the War".
The Consul General of Ukraine in Frankfurt, Vadym Kostiuk, also spoke to the demonstrators.
There were other rallies in other cities.
150 people came together in Königstein to demonstrate against the Russian war of aggression.
In Darmstadt there were about 500 people.
There were other rallies in other cities.
150 people came together in Königstein to demonstrate against the Russian war of aggression.
In Darmstadt there were about 500 people.
There were other rallies in other cities.
150 people came together in Königstein to demonstrate against the Russian war of aggression.
In Darmstadt there were about 500 people.
The closure of German airspace, which the German federal government had imposed as a sanction, already had its first effects on Sunday afternoon.
An Aeroflot machine that had taken off from Moscow and was scheduled to land in Frankfurt at 3:05 p.m. turned around before leaving Russian airspace.