Photo taken on Feb. 28, 2022 shows the street after snow in Lviv, Ukraine. (Xinhua/Chen Wenxian)
While conflicts have erupted in Ukraine's most populated centers, Lviv has been a relatively peaceful haven for the westbound refugees.
LVIV, Ukraine, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- A few hours after nightfall on Sunday, the sound of an air raid siren abruptly pierced the darkness in Lviv, Ukraine's westernmost city near the border with Poland.
In one of the city's hotels, the guests grabbed their coats and cell phones, and hurried out of their rooms.
"Did I hear a siren?" one of them asked in the corridor.
"Yes! Go to the basement for shelter," someone responded, already from the staircase.
After a short while, the hotel's well-lit basement was filled with some 200 people. A small team of Xinhua correspondents, on their first day in Lviv, was in there too. The hair of one of them was still wet as she jumped out of the shower on hearing the siren.
At that point, Lviv still felt like a world away from the fighting and was considered a safe haven for citizens and diplomats alike. But when the sirens started blaring, this relative calm appeared to disappear.
"It was abnormal to hear an air raid siren in 2022, but we're getting used to it during our stay," a man with glasses, who was sitting in a chair nearby and working on his laptop, told Xinhua. "It's the new reality," he commented without providing his name.
Besides chairs, there were some beds for the elderly guests -- an "advantage" of a shelter in a hotel.
While conflicts have erupted in Ukraine's most populated centers, Lviv has been a relatively peaceful haven for the westbound refugees.
Photo taken on Feb. 28, 2022 shows people queueing up outside a bank in Lviv, Ukraine. (Xinhua/Chen Wenxian)
The city's central train station has seen travelers arrive from other parts of the country and leave for various European countries, while the checkpoints at the country's borders have been clogged with vehicles for days now.
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Monday that roughly half a million people have already fled Ukraine to Poland, Romania, Hungary and other neighboring countries.
Nevertheless, people staying in Lviv have been bracing for possible emergencies. Storable food products have disappeared from the supermarkets, but locals told Xinhua they expected the shelves to be replenished soon.
The city's stores selling outdoor clothing were crowded with residents and volunteers headed to the frontlines. Lviv was hit by a round of heavy snow overnight, no wonder the rush for winter clothes.
Photo taken on Feb. 28, 2022 shows some empty shelves in a supermarket in Lviv, Ukraine. (Xinhua/Chen Wenxian)
Ukrainian soldiers and armed police officers were seen patrolling the city's streets. At the major crossroads, sandbags have been stacked to fortify Lviv.
Meanwhile, on Monday, delegations from Russia and Ukraine met in the Gomel region in Belarus for peace talks five days after Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine.
According to Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation at the talks, the next meeting will take place on the Belarusian-Polish border in the coming days.
Photo taken on Feb. 28, 2022 shows people walking on the street in Lviv, Ukraine. (Xinhua/Chen Wenxian)
For civilians, the peace talks bring a ray of hope that peace could be restored. The conflict has separated families, displaced refugees and exhausted travelers.
In the hotel's basement, the guests were finally given the all-clear and after half an hour of anxiety they could return to their rooms before the night-time curfew began. ■
