Track number five at the Przemysl main train station is a busy one.

Every day four or five trains arrive at the International platform, each spilling out upwards of 400 people from Ukraine. From here many continue into other cities across Poland or even to other countries.

Forced westwards

Iryna, standing on a neighboring platform, had tears in her eyes. She is from Kyiv. She left the Ukrainian capital with her son on February 25th after a nearby house was bombed. They traveled to Lviv, thought to be safe until the air raid sirens began there too.

"We had been staying in Western Ukraine for a while," she told CGTN. "But they also started bombing there, so we came to Poland. We are now heading to Warsaw to stay with a friend." 

On Sunday, missiles hit a military training base some 50 kilometres from Lviv, killing at least 35 people. That marked Russia's most westwardly attack and sparked fears that humanitarian convoy routes in and out of the country could be compromised next.

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As of March 15 more than 3 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's offensive on the country began. The United Nations expects many more to leave.

The majority of those fleeing have come to Poland and many of them through the Przemysl train station. 

Following Sunday's attack, the town's deputy mayor, Bogusław Świeży, said they were ready to welcome even more refugees and were preparing extra beds for them.

"We are already getting ready or more traffic," said Świeży, indicating that more refugees are expected if Russia continues to intensify its hostilities in the west of Ukraine.

Heading back to war

Yet some here are waiting to head back into Ukraine.

36-year-old Jan Rames use to be in the Ukrainian army. After that, he and his wife found work in Poland. But once their homeland came under attack, they both quit their jobs, stocked up on military and medical equipment and made their way to Przemysl.

"On the first day of the war, I decided to return to Ukraine," Jan says. "It is in accordance with my military unit, to protect the President and Kyiv. I understand the consequences of this decision, but I can't do otherwise."

His wife, a nurse, is also going back.

Jan loaded up a waiting car in front of the station with all his bags, hugged the friends he had made in Poland, raised his fist in the air and shouted: "Slava Ukrani" (Glory to Ukraine). And with that, he entered the car with a smile and drove off.

For others, going back before the war ends is simply not an option.

Back on the platform, Iryna's train to the Polish capital has arrived. Wiping away tears before boarding it she says, "We don't know how to return home because everything around Kyiv is being bombed. Everything. The international community can help by allowing Ukraine to join the EU. I hope it will be safe here (in Poland) because I haven't got the strength to keep fleeing."