Murtada al-Amiri is an Iraqi who left his country in 2010 to escape the scourge of war, heading to Ukraine in search of a safe haven and a better future, but he found himself fleeing from war to war, stranded and stuck in the middle of a devastating war waged by Russia on this country.

This young man with a dental degree says that the situation in the capital, Kyiv, is constantly deteriorating, and that the stock of food and supplies they obtained on the first day is decreasing, “even the little money, which we were able to withdraw from the ATM before all financial services were disrupted, almost running out.”

Al-Amiri asserts that there are many Arab families in Kyiv, "but the situation of Arab families in the city of Kharkiv is much worse because of the heavy Russian bombing."

He pointed out that he and those with him were trying to reach the Polish border, "I booked a train to go to the border... but in fact we don't know what will happen after that... nothing seems clear."

Because he lives in a western city close to the Romanian border, the 25-year-old Iraqi student, Ali Muhammad, who had hoped to graduate this year in engineering, was unable to leave.

Dozens of daily contacts with his country's embassy were in vain.

He says from the city of Chernivtsi, "I left Iraq to change the way I lived, from war, fatigue and problems."

Today, however, he finds himself living the same scenario, seeing "the same fear" in the eyes of people and children.

"We are waiting for relief," he added, explaining that Iraqi and Syrian students are the ones who face the most difficulties in returning to their countries.

In Kharkiv, the Ukrainian city 45 km from Kyiv and witnessing fierce battles, there are still Iraqis who find it difficult to leave with their women and children, as well as in the city of Sumy because of the road blockage and the demolished bridges.

On Monday, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry announced that 160 of its citizens had left Ukraine since the start of the Russian war last week.

On the same day, the ministry announced that it would issue passports to Iraqis who had lost their passports.

According to the ministry's spokesman, Ahmed Al-Sahaf, there are 5,537 Iraqis residing in Ukraine, including 450 students, distributed in 37 universities.