tonight, the uncertain journey out of ukraine. as russia's assault continues. >> yeah, we're safe, thank god we're safe are but what about everybody else? >> we're on the ground as the refugee crisis explodes and millions of lives are upended by war. their desperate struggle to survive and start over receiving help from an unlikely source. >> all the kids here, say hi! >> reporter: their fellow refugees. >> you guys are picking up the pieces of your own life. why help others right now? >> it was needed for us too. plus singer z, a trans woman, rose to fame performing on tv, competing on ukraine's version of "the voice." ♪ mamma mia does it show again ♪

still facing danger in her own country. >> i saw two military men with guns. they said, z! are you ready to die tonight? and i ran for my life. >> inside her harrowing escape and why she says her fight isn't over. this special edition of "nightline," "starting over: escape from ukraine," will be right back.

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♪ good evening and thanks for joining us. i'm trevor ault. the number of refugees fleeing ukraine topped 4 million this week. an unfolding humanitarian crisis, to for many a desperate decision to leave home behind and face the uncertainty of starting over. and some who already made their own escape are now helping fellow refugees. here's abc's ashan singh reporting from poland. >> reporter: in krakow we're about 150 miles from the ukraine border. it's one of the many european cities being inundated with ukrainians trying to flee the war. as the refugee count exceeds millions, it's worth noting the newest wave of refugees suffering from the war

firsthand. on the streets here, you hear as much ukrainian as polish these days. what does it take to recreate a life? in the shadow of a war? >> it's been on a day-by-day basis. reconfigure and try to understand our lives, to be honest. >> reporter: juan tec and his wife aliana are finding out, trying to build a new normal for their son in a foreign land. >> it was nice to cross into poland because now we're safe. but it felt terrible, like yeah, we're safe, tang god we're safe, but what about everybody else? we felt privileged. we felt blessed. >> lucky? >> lucky, yeah. we figure, we need to do something about it. >> reporter: survival becomes a new mission. >> so we're at the train station near our refugee center. >> reporter: ukrainian refugees

holding out their hands to lift one another up. >> we just felt that hippi help other is was the right thing to do in our hearts. turning foreign lands into temporary sanctuaries. >> all the kids here, say hi! >> got some good boys over here. >> reporter: at the polish border with ukraine, there is a seemingly endless flow of people. but this wave, increasingly coming over carrying shopping bags full of clothes instead of luggage. here at the train station, relief and confusion mingle. as millions of ukrainians leech

the k leave the country, this train stop is their first stop out of the country. the sign in polish and ukrainian says "you're safe here." as we talk to these families, it becomes clear while the little kids know something is wrong, it's the teenagers who genuinely understand what's happening. did any of your friends end up staying back? >> reporter: 15-year-old anna has been on the road for more than two weeks. >> oh, wow. you painted this? this is beautiful. >> reporter: this young artist forced to hide her work, hoping it will survive russian bombs. 14-year-old ali is from kyiv. traveling with his mom, brother, and sister, he's a few years too young to fight. many 18 and older are barred from leaving ukraine.

alexandra is from kharkiv, an area hit hard by russian forces. her plea for americans? like so many of those families at the train station, juan and his wife had a rich, happy life in ukraine. he's an american english teacher from los angeles. she works in i.t. but that life was ripped apart when the sound of bombs reached their doorstep. >> i was really upset with this whole situation. got a home here, and they come and destroy it. i felt a lot of grief. we felt we were leaving our home, our things, tomaslav's

idea of what was family, what was home. >> you guys are in the middle of picking up pieces of your own life. >> yeah. >> why help others right now? >> first of all, it was needed for us too. constantly watching news, we had to stop doing it. it wasn't helping anyone. we need to do something about it. >> at least tomaslav can say, my parents were doing these amazing things. i want to make sure tomaslav in the future will have inspiring stories to tell about us. i'm picking up stranded refugees just right outside the border with ukraine. all right. mission halfway completed. i picked up julia, her daughters, sasha and genya. >> reporter: instead of looking for full-time work, they've thrown themselves into refugee settlement. >> i got official permission to pick up refugees from the border. >> reporter: providing refuge to

those seeking sanctuary from the devastation they left behind in ukraine. >> thank you very much. very, very much. >> how are you? >> it wasn't until we stayed here the first night that i was able to sleep properly. and then we said, we've got to help others to get to this. they need their space too. maybe they need to cry. believe it or not, three or four days after that, they're not an able to help themselves, they'r. it's just incredible. >> reporter: nastia and 4-year-old son maxim fled ukraine just over three weeks ago. driven from their home after russia's shelling attack on the nuclear plant, forced to leave her mother and husband behind. >> mission number nine under way with maxim here.

and nashya. >> reporter: juan and iliana found them temporary housing after the pair traveled more than 1,000 miles over the course of a week. instead, nastya's building a new life for them here in poland, for now. today juan and ilyana are taking them to their new home, an airbnb donated by a stranger, looking to help in any way he could. >> i feel so great. >> what you have been through, what so many, millions of people are going through right now, to see maxim running here, turning

on youtube, breathing a sigh of relief. what's that like? >> it's beautiful. it's people, the power of people. it's the power of wanting to help. >> reporter: a few hours away, american mother wendy ferrell is extending her hand to dozens of ukrainian children. >> right now we are in a middle mountain resort about an hour south of krakow here in poland. >> reporter: ferrell is the founder of the one you project that funds a private home for these children, many of them orphans. ♪ in 2013, she adopted her oldest daughter from ukraine. >> i felt like the lord was telling me that my work in that beautiful country was not done. >> reporter: the home staff and all 31 kids escaped safely to poland. butter relevant is trying to get emergency visas to temporarily bring everyone to the united states. so far, they're stuck in limbo, told the process could take months. >> we are like family to them. while they have been so well

taken care of here in poland, this is still a foreign country to them. >> are you hearing that from the kids, they want to be in the u.s.? >> yes, they all are tired of living out of suitcases. they don't feel like this is a permanent solution. they want to be with us. >> reporter: 15-year-old oksana and 17-year-old brother miroslav are ready for the trip. but ultimately, they want to return to ukraine.

>> they're not just faceless children. they're not just numbers or statistics. they each have their own story. each of their lives are valuable and they're important. and they need people to champion their cause and to be their voice because they are voiceless. still ahead, the unseen. ukraine's marginalized refugees. >> i'm not a criminal, and they treated me like a criminal. >> one trans woman's harrowing escape. >> i saw two military men with guns. and i ran for my life. >> fleeing more than just war. stay with us. before treating your chronic migraine, 15 or more headache days a month each lasting 4 hours or more, you're not the only one with questions about botox®. botox® prevents headaches in adults with chronic migraine

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♪ ♪ "nightline," "starting over: escape from ukraine" continues. here again, ashan singh. a trans singer named z escaped the war in ukraine and arrived here. as countries in eastern europe have prove generally unsafe for members of the lgbtq community, it's places like germany where they actually need to find refuge. the fact that you even have a space like this, do you feel lucky? >> of course. this is a privilege. this is luck. >> reporter: z isn't sure she will ever be able to go back home to ukraine. as a trans woman, she barely made it out of the country alive and could even be arrested if she tried to return. >> i'm not a criminal, and they

treated me like a criminal. >> do you love your country? >> i love my country. it's post-soviet neighboring countries, they all are pretty homophobic and transphobic. >> reporter: z is a singer. she appeared on ukraine's version of the singing competition tv show "the voice." ♪ mamma mia does it show again ♪ >> reporter: the war on ukraine has the global lgbtq community on alert. for decades vladimir putin has been accused of targeting and jailing activists. in russia, it's illegal to promote gay rights. things in ukraine aren't as bad, but z says they're far from perfe perfect. >> we're fighting for our lives as trans people. that we are humans. we deserve our rights. >> reporter: with the stakes so high, many in ukraine's lgbtq community are trying to escape. have you heard any backlash? >> people say that i needed to stay and protect my country, that i needed to take up arms

and go shoot russians. >> why? >> because trans women are men in ukraine. they treat us like men. >> reporter: many of ukraine's neighboring countries have conservative governments with anti-trans or anti-gay laws. zi decided she had to leave in order to survive, but there was still one problem. >> if you have the male on your passport, you will not cross the border legally. it's impossible. they will not let you through. >> reporter: zi says the process to change genders on official documents in ukraine is humiliating and treats being trans as a mental illness. since the rules say all men between 18 and 60 years old have to stay in ukraine, she knew her passport would be a major issue. zi shot this video at a checkpointar romania. >> i saw two military men with guns. they said, "zi! are you ready to die tonight? because we're going to end you."

and i knew they were running after me. and there was a river that was very hard to swim. and i was almost, like, drowning. i thought, that's it. i thought, i won't make it. but somehow, i reached the other side. >> reporter: zi eventually made her way to germany, a more lgbtq-friendly country. how does it feel? >> i feel safe and loved. this is all i have. >> reporter: with no possessions, but with the help of the family that owns this house, zi is starting a new life. >> my story is not like popular opinion right now. i know the world stands with ukraine, but they don't know what's going on inside of the country. >> reporter: about 175 miles away, olja, her ex-partner and

their son are trying to make a new home. it took them 68 hours to drive here from western ukraine. >> in the car, i tried to stay positive. you could just die in one second if you imagine what's going on. >> reporter: olha says the biggest reason they left was to protect their son. she says her life in ukraine was good and safe. she knows that experience is not universal for the lgbtq community. but she felt things were improving before the war. >> they were moving in the right direction. we put pressure on our government, and it changes. then i have a feeling this is a country that didn't want me. >> reporter: even though she's living in germany for now, a country with more lgbtq protections, olha's heart remains firmly in ukraine. >> i want to believe that i still have my life in ukraine. i have friends.

i had a house, i had a job. i still likely have a job, it's online now. i was just living a typical life. >> reporter: she hopes her family can go back and create a positive environment for her son and their community. >> i want him to grow up in ukraine. i think it's important. it's important for me. >> reporter: as they fight for the future, many hold on to the love for the country they call home. >> families. regular families. mom, dads, kids, grandparents who really want to celebrate their kid's birthday, their kid's first diploma. >> reporter: some find their purpose. some are finding their way. others are trying to pay it forward. yet one thing remains true, resilience.

are you hopeful? >> we are hopeful, yeah. of course. we will survive in any case. we are suffering but we'll survive. >> our thanks to ashan singh for that reporting. when we come back, the scenes of solidarity as the world marks transgender day of visibility.

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here in the united states. that's "nightline." you can watch all of our full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here at the same time tomorrow. thanks for staying up with us. good night, america. fantastic things start to happen when you step aboard a princess cruise. doors open up for you, your favorite drinks start finding you,