Last night we learned that Russian President Vladmir Putin issued a new decree that will mobilize some 300,000 Russian reservists and men with previous military experience, likely signaling an escalation of the war in Ukraine. Although not unexpected, this news is concerning for we volunteers at the Ocalenie Foundation safe space for children in the Ukrainian Refugee Reception Point / Humanitarian Aid Center in Przemyśl, Poland. Given the current momentum of the Ukrainian counter-offensive, escalation will almost certainly result in a longer, more destructive war, and one can imagine the likelihood that more collateral damage to civilian livlihoods will occur, driving additional waves of refugee migration. This will naturally mean more demand for our humanitarian aid assistance.
The Ukrainian Refugee Reception Point / Humanitarian Aid Center in Przemyśl is scheduled to demobilize and close operations in less thant six weeks, at the end of October, 2022. However, I am watching to see if there is a change in planning if another large stream of refugees materializes as winter approaches, either because the escalation in military engagement or because colder weather drives people from their damaged, war-torn homeland or both.