Ukrainian families are taking enormous risks to try to flee Mariupol, traveling through Russian checkpoints — and in some cases landmines — to try to get to safety.

Yousur Al-Hlou and I spent time at a makeshift reception center in the southern city of Zaporizhia where families from Mariupol are arriving to safety.

Most of the cars have white sheets of paper taped to the windows with the word “children'' - to indicate to Russian forces at checkpoints that there are children in the vehicle. And on car door handles, there are white ribbons/rags to indicate that the cars approaching the checkpoints are civilian and come in peace. Families told us that they had to go through 15-20 Russian checkpoints on their way out of Mariupol.

Volunteers approach each car and document the names and phone numbers of the new IDPs. This information is then stored in this digital database. These families now join the 1 in 4 Ukrainians who have been forcibly displaced from their homes.