Thibaud Hue, edited by Juline Garnier 4:04 p.m., March 01, 2022

More than 660,000 refugees have fled Ukraine in six days according to the UN.

The first Ukrainians are beginning to arrive in France, particularly in Mayenne and the Lyon region.

The challenge for the government and associations is now to organize the reception of these refugees. 

Faced with the Russian invasion, several hundred thousand fled Ukraine in the space of a week.

A majority have found refuge in the countries bordering Ukraine, in Poland but also in Romania.

Some refugees have reached France, where their care is being organized gradually.  

In the region of Lyon, Yana Khomenkova, secretary of the Franco-Russian cultural committee of Autun took in one of these many families.

"You have to imagine that they took the road directly as soon as the bombardments started. They think back to everything they left behind and do not know when they will be able to return home, she tells the antenna of Europe 1. They do not know what they are going to do, what they are going to live on. This is the big question and there is no answer for the moment.

Moral and material support

A family who arrived "without anything" in France and who were welcomed by relatives.

"Fortunately they have their families here to give them moral support. There is also the municipality to provide material support," says the secretary.

With the help of the City of Autun, the committee found accommodation, set up beds and collected some clothes and toys.

"The 8-year-old girl didn't even have shoes on, she went out in tap dance."

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They hope that the Russian and Ukrainian delegations will find an agreement quickly.

These met Monday in Belarus to negotiate.

A new meeting will soon be organized on the Polish-Belarusian border.

Kiev notably demanded "an immediate ceasefire as well as the withdrawal of (Russian) troops from Ukrainian territory". 

To welcome these refugees in France, the Minister Delegate for Transport Jean-Baptiste Djebbari has also announced that they will be able to travel free on board long-distance trains.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin sent a letter to the mayors of France, inviting them to get closer to the prefects to organize the reception of Ukrainian refugees.