For the first time, a plane brought Ukraine refugees from neighboring Moldova directly to Germany.
Around 130 people – mostly women and children – landed in a Lufthansa plane at Frankfurt Airport on Friday evening.
That was the start of the international airlift initiated by the federal government for refugees from countries neighboring the Ukraine attacked by Russia.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) and Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) wanted to receive the refugees at Germany's largest airport.
These were to be taken by bus to Bitburg in the Eifel region of Rhineland-Palatinate for initial reception.
According to Faeser, this federal state had agreed to take in those who had fled the war in their homeland.
Because of the Russian attack on Ukraine, millions of people are fleeing west.
Germany had offered the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine's smallest and economically weakest neighboring country, to take on up to 2,500 refugees directly.
Other federal states also agreed to initial admission.
According to the statement, Foreign Minister Baerbock said that she recently spoke to people on the Ukrainian border in Moldova "who had to flee from the Russian tanks with their children and a few things and had to leave their entire lives behind".
There she announced the establishment of a "humanitarian airlift".
Their first plane was "a shining sign of humanity in these dark times" on Friday.
Other machines would follow.
Interior Minister Faeser explained: “Germany can be a hub for fair distribution in Europe.
In view of the terrible suffering of the refugees, we also want to ensure shorter travel distances, rapid medical treatment and good accommodation.”