By Sarah Marsh

BERLIN (Reuters). Anastasia, a Ukrainian refugee from Ukraine said that she had barely slept for the past 90 hours since Russian missiles began raining on Kharkiv and blowing out her windows.

For fear of reprisals for family members left behind, the artist at 31 is no longer known as “Madame” and she has joined more than 1,000 children and women who are now arriving daily via Poland in Germany to seek asylum.

Anastasia, who was at Berlin’s Main Train Station when Anastasia spoke out about her journey to Munich and said that she had left home “the moment the planes shot towards our community” before she boarded the final train for her journey.

She said that they had no material, no money and no things now.

The United Nations estimates that a quarter of a million Ukrainian refugees fled Ukraine to join the European Union.

The initial trickle of refugees in Germany became a constant flow, with Deutsche Bahn offering free travel to more than a thousand.

The main station is manned by volunteers who speak the languages of refugees. These scenes are reminiscent of 2015’s events, in which more than one million Middle East migrants fled to Europe, while Germany welcomed the vast majority.

Volunteers have transformed one floor into a temporary welcome center. They serve hot food and provide warm clothing and shoes, as well as toys and games for the children.

GERMANS RALLY SUPPORT

In recent times, donation collection points have been set up in the city for Ukrainians. Berliners use Telegram messaging apps to coordinate aid efforts.

A few people are holding signs at one end of the station offering housing in their own homes, as an option to shelters provided by the state.

Paulin Nusser (26), a student who lives in a shared apartment and holds up a sign offering to rent a sofa for a couple of nights, said, “You feel kind of helpless.”

David Henning (31 years old) said that he would give over one floor in his hotel for refugees. He had so far received fleeing students needing a night to rest up before their next trip, as well as many mothers and their children that needed some time to sort out their lives.

Reuters was told by aid groups that this war has been fought within Europe, which means it is closer to the Middle East than the Middle East. This encourages even more willingness to assist.

They and the state can both be more organized, so they are more likely to get to work. The bureaucracy, however, is much easier. On Thursday, EU interior ministers agreed that temporary residency would be granted to Ukrainians to avoid them going through extensive asylum procedures.

However, this did not spare them from trauma. Ahmed Makhzomi (31), who came from Iraq in the 2015 migration wave, is currently volunteering at Berlin’s central station.

He stated, “I’ve been through many wars so I’m familiar with what it’s like.” “So I decided to give back in any way that I could.”