Heart-wrenching photo shows how Polish mothers are helping mothers fleeing Ukraine

Since Russia invaded Ukraine over a week ago, more than 1.5 million Ukrainians have fled their home country—and many of these refugees are children. In a heartbreakingly beautiful gesture, Polish mothers are helping Ukrainian parents escape their war-torn country with their babies in tow.

A photo captured by photojournalist Francesco Malavolta went widely viral over the weekend, showing several strollers lined with blankets lining the platform at the Przemyśl Główny train station. These strollers were donated by Polish mothers so that Ukrainian mothers have a safe, warm place to set their babies when they arrive in their country to seek refuge.

Many people all over the world have commented on the gesture, which, arguably, perfectly captures the beauty of humanity and motherhood in a single photo.

According to Yahoo! News, between 80,000-100,000 people have been crossing the 300-mile border between Ukraine and Poland every day since the invasion. The vast majority of Ukrainian refugees are women and children, as Ukraine is encouraging all men to join the fight against Russia. Most men between the ages of 18 and 60 are banned from leaving the country, per the LA Times.

Poland has taken in the most refugees—300,000 Ukrainians and counting. Hungary, Moldova, Romania, and Slovakia are also taking in tens of thousands of refugees, according to the United Nations.

Thousands of women, mothers, sisters, grandmothers, and aunts have been forced to flee their homes with their children during the last 10 days. Seeing women and mothers helping other women and mothers in this heartbreaking yet compassionate way is truly humanity personified.

If you want to help relief efforts for Ukrainians, you can find a list of ways to donate here.

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