Nearly one million child refugees have fled Ukraine for Poland since the start of the war.

Now, under that avalanche of refugees from the Russian invasion of Ukraine is affecting basic services.

In Warsaw, the local government is recording so many new Ukrainian arrivals that the city’s computer system crashes. In Krakow, housing is in such short supply that refugees are being sent to live 5½ hours away.

And officials in both cities are now begging other countries to flee Ukraine and take the people with them.

“Help us. Help us. You need to accept as many people as possible,” said Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski.

He said he had spoken on the phone with the mayors of Paris, Florence and Berlin, and met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, asking for more aid. He told Mr Trudeau: “We can’t do it alone. We need an international order… we are slowly becoming overwhelmed.”

Nearly 1.9 million people have arrived in Poland since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly three weeks ago, according to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. More than 400,000 of them are living in Warsaw and Krakow, Poland’s two largest cities, and local officials estimate that number could be double.

So far, Poland has largely absorbed refugees without refugee camps that were spread across Europe during the 2015 refugee crisis. Before the war, two million Ukrainians already lived in Poland, and hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees are now living with friends and family, as well as Poles who have offered space for strangers in their homes.

The influx of people into major Polish cities is putting extreme pressure on housing stocks, schools and transport systems, with trains arriving in Warsaw and Krakow jammed with passengers and suitcases in aisles. About half of the refugees are children, while many others are elderly.

The city’s psychologists are working with all the refugees, leaving no appointments for the locals. The government housing for the needy Poles is now occupied by Ukrainians.

“These are the people who usually need help in every city in the world – it’s going to cause problems,” Trzaskowski said. “We need a transfer to Poland. Please start sending trains everywhere. Not just to Warsaw.”

Last week, when Polish President Andrzej Duda met with Vice President Kamala Harris, he asked her to expedite the visa process for Ukrainians who want to join family in the US.

Many refugees want to live in Europe and often in Poland, which is closer to their home and is more similar to the Ukrainian language. Efforts to send refugees to other European countries have also been tarnished by stringent COVID-19 regulations in many EU countries, Mr Trzaskowski said. Poland has for now removed the Kovid-19 rules for those coming from Ukraine.

The status of refugees has also been a deterrent in some countries.

Krakow mayor Jacek Mazkrowski said, “We have already sent some trains of people to Germany. But Germany put them in refugee camps. So the people who went are now telling the people coming not to go to Germany.” “

Located less than three hours from the busiest border crossing with Ukraine, Krakow is home to one of Europe’s heaviest refugee burdens. A city of less than 800,000 before the war began, it is now home to some 110,000 refugees, Mr Mazkrowski said, a 14% increase in population in less than a month. Warsaw, home to some 1.6 million before the war, has received 300,000 refugees, an even bigger jump. If they stay, one out of every six residents in the capital will be a recently arrived Ukrainian.

The booking of hotels in and around both the cities has increased. Old shopping malls and hospitals are being converted into refugee housing. The rules limiting class sizes have been removed, and schools are flooded with new Ukrainian students.

Krakow has already spent its entire crisis reserve fund, amounting to about $4.6 million, “and now we are spending money from other sources,” Mr Mazkrowski said.

The Polish government has promised to repay the cities for their costs, city officials said, although they acknowledge that 100% of their money is unlikely to be returned.

From Wednesday, the Polish government will start issuing government ID numbers to refugees from Ukraine. Although city officials said ID numbers would help refugees access services, they also worried the medical system could be overwhelmed as a result, as more Ukrainians become eligible for treatment.

“When the city has reached its limits, there is a sense of powerlessness. Not only in terms of housing, but in terms of education, medical supplies. Everything is just full,” said Antony Friesek, Krakow’s city manager.

Mr. Friesek begins each day with a meeting to evaluate the “ongoing fire”. On Monday, the first order of business was to get food and special medical supplies to Lviv, Ukraine, which Krakow and Warsaw have been doing regularly. He stocked five transport buses. with medical and sanitary supplies and sent them off.

After that meeting, Mr. Friesek checks supplies for the refugees. There is enough food and too much clothing in the city, but almost nowhere for people to live.

Refugees gather under Platform 4 at Krakow’s central train station in search of food and shelter. Volunteers in safety orange vests can barely walk 10 feet before someone catches them asking where to get diapers, how to sign up for accommodations where they can get a hot meal. Signs in Polish, English and Ukrainian provide accommodation and numbers to call throughout Europe. Families sit on top of suitcases, waiting for rides to places they’ve never heard of.

While arrivals two weeks ago could often afford to stay with friends and family and buy plane tickets, those now arriving often often have little money and no contact.

“I have no one in Europe,” said Victoria Switchkar, 25, from Kharkiv, who arrived in Krakow on Sunday as she waited in line to register for housing. Two of her cats were sitting in a carrier on the floor next to her. “I just need a place to sleep. I’m alone. I don’t care how long I can stay.”

Employees maintain a database of several thousand beds inside the temporary housing office. Options are getting away from Krakow by the day. Over the weekend, the town of Gorzów Wielkopolski offered accommodation for 40 people, as well as buses to take them there. The Catch: It’s a five-and-a-half hour drive from Krakow.

Concerned about security and the potential for human trafficking, city officials are not sending refugees to bed in private apartments. But just outside the housing office, an informal gold market has opened up in the city.

On Sunday afternoon, a Ukrainian woman burst into tears when city workers told her they had nothing to offer in Krakow. Immediately, Monica and Robert Kosaska approach her, offering her a couch at their apartment in town.

Complaining that there was no way to officially register to host refugees, Ms Kosaska said: “Everything is so messy.”

Although Krakovians remain eager to help the refugees, hundreds of them volunteer at the station and offer rooms in their apartments to strangers every day, with city officials saying that if the influx of Ukrainians into the city continues, So resentment may increase among local residents.

Already, they’re hearing some grumbling that Ukrainians who drive fancy cars get free public transportation, while Krakowians who pay taxes to support trains don’t.

“Such situations are on the rise,” said Krakow mayor Mr Mazkrowski. “Things that should have happened to Krakow residents are being taken away and given to refugees.”