of refugees have been fleeing. ellison, we can see some of the activity behind you. tell us what you ve been seeing on the ground there? hey, chris. for the last ten hours or so, when we arrived here last night, coming back again this morning, we have watched as fans filled with ukrainians, mostly women and children, have crossed the border to try and get to safety. remember, men who are considered fighting age, between the ages of 18 and 60, they are being told not to leave the country. so, we are seeing their families, children coming without their fathers, without their brothers. this line of cars right here, a lot of these cars have been here for days. waiting to pick people up who are making up across the border. and speaking with one woman who said she s been here the last two days, in her car, this by the way, just a little bit of the cars. there s a police checkpoint further down the road. and more cars, more people
putting some things in seats. these are the kinds of busses we have seen come to then pick up people and take them to other locations. one group we met, they had come with a bus from lithuania. and they were going to take more refugees back over there. the polish government, they see you see another one coming here right now, chris. you can see how packed these buses are. they ll come through this crossing. you can only cross through here by vehicle. and they ll take people through. usually, further past a checkpoint. or they ll unload them here, put them on another bus or in another car so they can go elsewhere. the government says since that russian invasion on thursday, 100,000 ukrainians have fled into this country alone. the un has said if things continue to escalate it s possible. . we could see some 4 million refugees fleeing. ellison, how much have you
i find it useful to dramatically stare out of the window. .so that no one knows i m secretly terrified inside. inner voice (sneaker shop owner): i m using hand gestures and pointing. .so no one can tell i m unsure about my business finances. inner voice (furniture maker): i m constantly nodding. .because i know everything about furniture. .but with the business side. .i m feeling a little lost. quickbooks can help. an easy way to get paid, pay your staff and know where your business stands. new business? no problem. yeah. success starts with intuit quickbooks. back to the breaking news, the number of people fleeing ukraine now surpassing 1 million. many of whom are children and their parents are desperate to get their kids to safety. it s not just ukrainians. some american families have also been caught in the war zone. nbc s jesse kirsch has been following one florida family s harrowing story to survive all
right chris? what an extraordinary story. thank you so much for that, ellison. joining me now michelle, i understand, correct me if i m wrong. you ve just arrived in lviv. you travel from kyiv. tell us about your journey? what it was like? what you saw? what you heard? and what you re seeing now? yes, i m standing in kyiv, outside lviv here. it s sunday morning i. been in the town for about four hours. we arrived here about 4:30 in the morning. there s no accommodation. we managed to find a school that s taking in refugees. we all slept on the floor of a school gym. i managed to get out of kyiv the. it was extremely difficult to get out at this point. there are no cars, trains. i manage to get with a they agreed to take me with their doberman in the backseat, the dog. so, we all got of kyiv. it was a 13, 14 hour drive. it was pretty chaotic because
entered kharkiv, this country s second largest city. u.s. officials say most of the russian forces amassed around ukraine are now fighting inside the country. in response, nato allies are doubling down on measures intended to punish russia. focusing in part on the country s financial institutions. and a symbol of the resistance here in the u.s.. governors of texas, utah and ohio have banned retailers from selling russian products, specifically vodka. liquor stores in new hampshire, kansas and michigan, you see here, also taking russian vodka off their shelves. and instead, provoking ukrainian spirits. overseas, germany is preparing to close its airspace to russian planes. joining the united kingdom, romania and the baltic states, have all also taken that steps. it comes as un officials say more than 150,000 ukrainian refugees have already flooded that country. nbc s ellison barber joins us at a checkpoint where thousands