Eastern Europe’s volunteer-driven aid effort to help Ukrainians was showing signs of strains of Friday, with some cities running out of accommodation as the number of refugees passed 2.5 million and fierce fighting continued unabated.

Relief work in frontline states — Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary and Moldova — has mainly been shouldered by ordinary citizens volunteering to drive, cook or house refugees, with the help of NGOs and local authorities.

But with the war now in its third week and the number of refugees continuing to swell, it is becoming increasingly difficult to provide sufficient help.

In Krakow, Poland’s second-largest city, one NGO described the situation at the city’s train station as “tragic”.

“There is nowhere to direct the refugees. They are stressed and confused, all kinds of help is needed, and above all, premises,” tweeted Fundacja Brata Alberta, an NGO.