In pictures: Tearful goodbyes as Ukrainian families leave loved ones and homes behind

A couple kiss goodbye before the woman boards a bus out of Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. Russia launched a wide-ranging attack on Ukraine on Thursday, hitting cities and bases with airstrikes or shelling, as civilians piled into trains and cars to flee. Ukraine's government said Russian tanks and troops rolled across the border in a “full-scale war” that could rewrite the geopolitical order and whose fallout already reverberated around the world. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
A couple kiss goodbye before the woman boards a bus out of Kyiv, Ukraine. Credit: AP

As Russian forces bear down on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities and regions, many people have fled for safety in the face of “full-scale war”.

As Ukraine bans men between 18 and 60 from leaving the country, there are those who have been forced to say goodbye to loved ones and to stay to fight the invading Russian army.

Others packed up their belongings, including pets, and piled into trains and cars out of the country.

The unfolding crisis has torn families apart as they depart, although it has also reunited others across borders. Powerful pictures show fathers saying goodbye to their partners and children while others show people reunited with loved ones in neighbouring Poland and Hungary.

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Vlad, 28, hands his son Danya, 2, to the child's mother Tatiana, 26, as they say goodbye before she leaves Kyiv.

Vlad, 28, right, hands his son Danya, 2, to his mother Tatiana, 26, as they say goodbye before she leaves Kyiv, at a bus station. Credit: AP

A video that has been seen by millions on Twitter, shows an emotional man believed to be sending his child away to safety.

People flocked to train stations. Here a woman carries a child as they leave Kramatorsk, in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine.

A woman carries a baby as she arrives to board a Kyiv bound train. Credit: AP

A boy looks out of a train window as it departs in Kramatorsk, in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine.

A woman and child sit on a Kyiv bound train, in Kramatorsk, the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine. Credit: AP

A woman, holding a small dog, arrives in Poland after fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

People fleeing the conflict from neighbouring Ukraine arrive to Przemysl train station in Poland. Credit: AP

Some were forced to walk miles to safety. These people are crossing the Hungarian-Ukrainian border, in Barabas, Hungary.

People flee from Ukraine at the Hungarian-Ukrainian border, in Barabas, Hungary. Credit: AP

There was relief for those who made it to safety. A women hugs another women at the border crossing in Medyka, southeastern Poland.

A woman hugs another women upon her arrival at the border crossing in Medyka, southeastern Poland. Credit: AP

A woman holds her baby as she gets on a bus leaving Kyiv

A woman holds her baby as she gets on a bus leaving Kyiv. Credit: AP

A young boy waves to a relative after coming off a train that carried 275 people to Zahony, Hungary, a border town with Ukraine.

Thousands of Ukrainians are fleeing from war by crossing their borders to the west in search of safety. Credit: AP

A woman cries after crossing the border from Ukraine at the Romanian-Ukrainian border, in Sighetu Marmatiei, Romania.

A woman weeps as she leaves Ukraine. Credit: AP

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