President Joe Biden says US will take 100 000 Ukrainians

Like many of the exhausted Ukrainians lined up at the concert hall turned refugee center, Lidia Vergun had heard that President Joe Biden arrived in the Polish capital and also that he brought an offer to accept 100,000 Ukrainians into the United States.

She was grateful, she said, but not interested. America was too far. I have lived in Ukraine all my life,” said Vergun, 52, a grandmother from near Chernihiv who was waiting to collect some of the donated diapers and shampoo being handed out by volunteers. “We want to go back to our motherland as soon as possible.”

Vergun’s faith that war in Ukraine would be a short-term affair was common among those still reeling from their rush to escape. For now, staying in Poland or other neighboring countries offered their best hope of resuming normal life as soon as possible. Not many Ukrainians in Warsaw have expressed a wish to go beyond the bounds of Poland or surrounding Europe.

“Mostly they are asking to travel to Italy, Germany, Spain. We’ve only had a few ask about the U.S.,” said Rostyslaw Sydoruk, one of the agents registering new arrivals at the center, which has processed more than 10,000 Ukrainian refugees.
Most want to stay in Poland, he said, which shares a 300-mile border with their home country. But many have also boarded the buses and trains that offer free passage to other countries within the European Union. Several refugee workers said they were aware of no free flights from Poland to the United States.

Whether Biden’s announcement would open new high-volume paths across the Atlantic for Ukrainians remained unclear Friday. White House officials said the new initiative would channel refugees through a number of existing programs but offered no additional details.

Refugee agencies in Poland said they had not gotten advance notice of the expansion but welcomed any measure that would ease the burden of caring for more than 3.5 million Ukrainians who are on the move.

Source: Reuters

In other news – Riky Rick’s mom breaks her silence

Award-winning Mzansi artist, Riky Rick’s mother, Louisa Zondo, has broken her silence over her son’s tragic death.

Zondo is currently trekking to Mount Everest with Riky Rick’s aunt Xoliswa Kakana while reminiscing about his life. Louisa is documenting her trek on social media, with posts written addressed to her son. Learn more