The first buses of Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of their country arrived in northern Italy over the weekend, as Europe braces for a major humanitarian crisis. A bus with a Ukrainian licence plate carrying around 50 people, almost all women and children, crossed the Italian border at Fernetti, near Trieste, in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Women on board the bus told Italian news agency ANSA that their husbands had stayed behind to fight the invading Russian forces. After crossing into Italy, the passengers made their way to the homes of friends or family, mainly in northern cities but also in Rome. Another bus carrying about 40 refugees from Ukraine, including a nine-month-old baby, arrived in Piacenza at the weekend.