<p>This is the heart-breaking scene this morning (tues) as thousands of desperate refugees fleeing war-torn Ukraine finally reached the safety of neighbouring Slovakia.</p><p>Weary families - mainly women and children - cradled blankets as they braved below freezing temperatures to cross the border with Slovakia throughout the night.</p><p>They are among thousands of refugees who travelled for hours to escape Ukraine as Russia’s war effort intensified and a huge military convoy headed for Kyiv.</p><p>As the sun rose this morning (Mar 1), people emerged from large communal tents provided at a makeshift camp on the border town of Vyšné Nemecké in Slovakia.</p><p>Aid workers on 12-hour shifts greeted new arrivals, who were offered support with finding accommodation, food and warmth.</p><p>Erik Herceg, 40, who volunteers with the Red Cross, said that some had queued for up to 12 hours to cross the border on foot.</p><p>Erik, an IT consultant, said: “Mothers are crossing with children in their hands with one bag of the last things they could take with them.”</p><p>Merei Khbeiz, 27, a software engineer, fled from the Ukrianian city of Lviv to the border with his brother and godfather.</p><p>He said: “We had to leave because it wasn’t safe.</p><p>“The enemy wasn’t there yet but the [Ukrainian] Army was in the streets looking out for them.”</p><p>Some relatives waited overnight in lines of cars to greet loved ones crossing the border, which is manned by armed police and Slovakian military.</p><p>Others refugees huddled near the crossing point as they waited for government buses to take them to their accommodation.</p><p>Many new arrivals have booked hotels in Slovakia while others have been offered temporary housing and transport by residents from Slovakia, Czech Republic and Germany, aid workers said.</p><p>Lorries continued to cross into Ukraine’s border town of Uzhgorod as scores of refugees travelled the opposite direction.</p>
