Some Ukrainians have walked for days to safety in Poland, but to offer their support, a maritime Facebook group has united to help Ukrainian refugees arriving in the region.

“They look like families who only went on vacation with suitcases, but they are refugees,” says Dr Oded Regev.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, many Ukrainians have fled their homes of war, forced to seek a new one.

“People I spoke to in Poland said they were overwhelmed, Poland is overwhelmed with people,” says Carol Ailles.

The Facebook group has about 1,800 members, half of whom are people offering support, the other half are Ukrainians seeking help.

“Our goal is to get as many people out of Poland as possible or out of harm’s way,” says Ailles.

“I think it’s safe to say it’s kind of the Maritime way of doing whatever we can to help someone in need,” says Meaghan Harwood, who heard of a new Ukrainian family in the Halifax area and offers what it can to help them settle.

“I reached out and said ‘I have silverware but we also have a storage unit which will be empty in a moment’ although they don’t need it at the moment, we offered our storage unit which has beds, some sofas and other things they could use,” says Harwood.

Harwood says the views from Ukraine are heartbreaking and she is grateful to live in a peaceful country and is able to help.

“The mother in this case is about to have a baby and I just hope someone will do it for us if we were in this position, this terrible position,” Harwood said.

The United Nations estimates that 10 million people have fled war-torn Ukraine.