On a cold and miserable day at Medyka border crossing in Poland, Newsy saw what war does to families.

Most of the refugees are women. Many have left their men behind. 

Irina Diduk is from the western city of Lviv. It took her more than 24 hours to get to the border with her mother, daughter and their dog Rocky. 

"We don't sleep because we have to move every time," Diduk said.

She told Newsy she doesn't know where they will go now but is clear why she left. 

"It's very simple," she said. "Because Putin start war in our country and we can't understand what he will do. You don't know what he is going to do. No one will know because it's [a] crazy man."

There are fewer men in the crowds. 

Max is at the border because he's 17 — just young enough to be permitted to leave. 

"I'm feeling pretty tired. It has been nonstop walking for the past 30 hours. I haven't slept yet. So it's not exactly the most pleasant feeling in the world," he said. "Probably 9 kilometer from the border we moved on our feet."

Across the border, back home in Ukraine, fathers, sons and brothers are staying behind to fight. 

Any man between the ages of 18 and 60 is prohibited from leaving Ukraine and encouraged to sign up. 

Across Ukraine, they're taking up weapons, strapping on fatigues and body armor, preparing to defend and possibly die. 

The worst of the fighting inside Ukraine has been between soldiers. But residential buildings in Kyiv have been hit. 

The choice facing families is to take refuge in places like metro stations or get out, even if it means breaking up the family.  

There's some comfort in Poland. A bowl of hot coffee and sympathetic border authorities. But the pain of war and the pain of separation is written on each and every face.

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The Ukrainian president appeared more somber as he made a desperate plea late Thursday night in Ukraine. 

Volodymyr Zelenskyy telegraphed that things were rapidly changing. He said President Putin wouldn't take his phone call. Zelenskyy tried to appeal directly to the Russian people to stop the looming invasion. 

Just hours earlier, Newsy confirmed the United States had given the Ukrainian government detailed intelligence, indicating the long-feared invasion was imminent.  

Nearly 200,000 Russian troops were surrounding Ukraine on three sides, ready to pounce. 

But President Putin had already decided to act. He told Russia he ordered a military operation inside Ukraine.

Notably, he was wearing the same suit and tie as he was last seen in on Monday, perhaps indicating he had been waiting to begin the long-planned attack and that the invasion was just a matter of time, precisely as the United States and Western intelligence had been predicting. 

At about the same time in New York, the U.N. secretary-general opened an emergency meeting of the Security Council, begging Putin to call it off.

 

"President Putin, stop your troops from attacking Ukraine," Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. "Give peace a chance."

The Ukrainian ambassador then sparred with Russia's ambassador, ironically sitting as the U.N. Security Council president. 

"The Russian president declared war on the record," Ukrainian ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said. "Should I play the video of your president, ambassador? Shall I do that right now? Or you can confirm it? Do not interrupt me, please, thank you." 

Vasily Nebenzya, the Russian ambassador to the U.N., responded: "Then don't ask me questions. When you are speaking, proceed with your statement."

"There is no purgatory for war criminals," Kyslytsya said. "They go straight to hell, ambassador." 

At 6 a.m. Moscow time, the assault began. There were air strikes in Ukraine's biggest cities, targeting military posts and weapons warehouses, plus ports and airbases. And ground forces began moving in. 

Within minutes, President Biden released a written statement calling Russia's attack "unprovoked and unjustified."

He pledged the world would "hold Russia accountable."

"Russia has attacked Ukraine. This is a brutal act of war" "We now have war in Europe on the scale, and of a type, we thought belonged to history."

The widest, bloodiest, most significant battle in Europe since World War II was now underway with no clear end game in sight. 

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There's always been one thing Matthew Frantsuzhan could turn to for an escape — playing music.The Ukrainian teen enrolled at Valley High School in West Des Moines, Iowa, back in August through a foreign exchange student program."Most of all I love this school because I am absolutely everywhere with the music, like orchestra, show choir, concert choir, acapella choir," Frantsuzhan said.As he attempts to perfect his craft in the states, turmoil erupts back home.His father has been able to flee the country, but his mother and grandparents have not."All the flights are canceled, all the airports are closed. And my mother right now, she's stuck in the capitol. I have my grandmother, she's 67 and my great grandmother, she's 92 years old. And they are staying at my hometown, so they're shooting all around my hometown, all around the region," he shared.Returning home is out of the question.With flights canceled and threats of more violence, it's unclear when he'll be able to return to his home country."I can't go home at all, I can't come back because they will not let out of the countrymen from 18 to 60 years old. And if I'm going to come back there, they're going to send me to fight," Frantsuzhan said.What he can do is stay focused on his future here in Iowa."I just hope that one day it's all going to be over and we're going to be alive and happy people," he said.

Afghan women are continuing to fight for their rights as the Taliban crackdown intensifies.

"They are not our people. They are terrorist. They are killing our people," one protesting woman said.

Exclusive footage from a Newsy photojournalist in Kabul takes us inside one of the largest protests under Taliban control to date.

The march was Tuesday — just as the Taliban announced an all-male interim government.

All week, groups of women in Kabul and elsewhere in the country have taken to the streets at great personal risk — wearing hijabs and bravely showing their faces to the world.  

Their demands? Equal rights and inclusion in government and society.  

The activists also shouted support to resistance fighters in the Panjshir province — and against Pakistan's influence in their country.  

"Our demands are this: stop killing them," one protesting woman said.

In response, the Taliban have used whips, sticks and live ammunition to beat up the women and break up the protests — as seen in this footage captured with cell phones. 

A U.N. official says the violent Taliban crackdown has already led to four documented deaths. 

"We call on the Taliban to immediately cease the use of force towards, and the arbitrary detention of, those exercising their right to peaceful assembly and the journalists covering the protests," said U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani.

The Taliban have detained at least 14 reporters covering the protests — assaulting nine of them, according to the committee to protect journalists. 

One reporter told Newsy the Taliban hit him on the head, broke his ribs and stole his notes, accusing him of "spreading false propaganda."

Now, in one of its first moves, the new Taliban leadership has banned all demonstrations without government approval, warning of "severe legal consequences" for those who disobey. 

Still, women activists vow to keep on fighting.    

A reporter asked, "Are you going to continue doing this? It's dangerous." 

"Yes, for sure, for sure," a protester responded.  "We will never stop. We will never be afraid of this."

This story was originally reported by Newsy.com.