City in west Ukraine scrambles to protect evacuees, monuments

LVIV, Ukraine, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Under mostly cloudy skies with a few snow flurries, hundreds of volunteers were distributing food and hot beverages to those waiting at the central train station in Lviv in western Ukraine for trains to take them to neighboring countries amid the Russia-Ukraine military conflict.

"We're ready to help everybody," a male volunteer who wished to remain anonymous told Xinhua. The freezing temperatures, the crowds and the chaos did not seem to deter him. "People make me strong," he said with a broad smile.

Evacuation trains from Ukraine's larger cities, such as Kiev and Kharkiv, pour into Lviv, the country's sixth-largest city some 60 km from the Polish border, bringing vast numbers of evacuees from the fighting. The city itself has also become a transit point, with some of its public facilities turned into reception centers and shelters.

Lviv resident Stephan Pylyp, who operated 21 footwear stores across Lviv and employed around 150 people, told Xinhua that although the military conflict forced the closure of his shoe factory in town, he still decided to distribute winter boots to the needy.

"Nobody knows how the situation will evolve," he said. "We all hope and pray that in a few days life will return to normal."

Maxim, an English teacher who had to flee Kiev, decided to stay in Lviv after sending his wife and daughter to Germany. Pledging to volunteer as a translator for foreigners arriving in the city, Maxim said he would be more than happy to lend a helping hand to others as he was offered help when he arrived.

Compared to the southern and eastern parts of Ukraine, Lviv has been relatively spared and has become a safe haven for locals and foreigners alike.

The authorities and residents of Lviv, the largest city in western Ukraine and home to some 720,000 people, have spared no effort to protect the city's well-preserved historic and picturesque Old Town, a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage site.

On all four corners of Lviv's Rynok Square -- one of the city's most prominent attractions in the heart of the Old Town -- the four 18th-century stone statues of ancient Greek deities have been wrapped up in protective plastic and secured with tape.

Besides covering the city's statues and sculptures in foam, municipal workers have been installing metal mesh on historic buildings and churches and erecting wooden panels to protect the stained-glass windows.

Following two rounds of inconclusive peace talks, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators failed to achieve a significant breakthrough during their third round of peace talks in Belarus on Monday, although some consensus on humanitarian corridors has been reached.

Russia's armed forces have declared a "silence regime" and said they would open humanitarian corridors for the safe evacuation of civilians from several Ukrainian cities starting at 10 a.m. Moscow time (0700 GMT) on Tuesday.

Ukraine's UNIAN news agency reported on Tuesday that Ukraine had started evacuating residents from the northeastern city of Sumy through a humanitarian corridor as agreed with Russia.