Fmr. Defense Minister collected Ukrainian refugee group in Poland

Former Defense Minister Joris Voorhoeve (76) went to pick up a group of six Ukrainian asylum seekers at the Polish border and offered them shelter at his holiday home in Germany, De Telegraaf reports. The suffering he saw on the thousands of Ukrainians fleeing their country due to Russian attacks touched him deeply. So he decided to see if he could help at least some of them.

"When I saw images of people trying to flee the country in the freezing cold with bags full of stuff, I thought to myself: this isn't acceptable," Voorhoeve said to the newspaper. "I know it takes time for governments to organize refugee shelters, but I felt I had to do something.

Voorhoeve went to the Polish border on Saturday morning with his 18-year-old son and two former students. There they met Ira, her mother, and her four children aged 4 to 14. They fled their home in Kharkiv due to the Russian invasion. He offered them a place to stay at his holiday home in Germany.

"Although a good night's sleep and a nice accommodation do them good, I see a lot of crying faces," Voorhoeve said. "Their street in Kharkiv has been completely destroyed by a missile impact, and with that, their lives are turned upside down for good."