- A Romanian restaurant situated near the border with Ukraine is serving free meals to refugees.
- The boss told Insider she's trying her best to help those in need during extremely difficult times.
- She added the "heartbreaking" crisis has caused her staff to cry with the customers they serve.
The owner of a Romanian restaurant located near the border with Ukraine is serving free meals to Ukrainians who are escaping the country after an unprovoked Russian invasion.
Andreea Cristea, the boss of The Folly restaurant, situated in the city of Galati, told Insider she is trying to do her part to help in a crisis that has led to the bloodshed of many innocent civilians.
When serving Ukrainian refugees, Cristea said her staff cries with them in a "heartbreaking" situation. "It is a real drama," she added.
"A group of four people, in their twenties, who left their parents at home, were crying all the time," she continued.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since the attack, Western nations have teamed together to punish Russia for the invasion, through the use of restrictive economic measures, which has sent the country's economy tumbling.
According to the British government, the sanctions hammering Russia could last ten years.
The invasion has not only been criticized by the West but also among advisors to the Kremlin itself. Andrey Kortunov, a panel member of foreign policy experts advising the Kremlin told Sky News said he was "shocked" by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
According to Cristea, Ukrainian refugees recently started entering Romania in "large numbers" to flee Russian forces. "Most of the Ukrainian citizens arriving in Galati are women and children," she added.
"No man between 18 and 55 is allowed to leave the country," Cristea said.
At The Folly, Cristea said she can serve up to 100 meals a day indefinitely for those in need. Days ago, she said the eatery had about 40 people waiting to be served at the location.
"Being a nation that experienced Soviet domination for 45 years, Romanians are obviously outraged by what is happening in Ukraine," Cristea said.
In addition to providing free meals to Ukrainian refugees, Cristea said she organized a donation of food cans, bottled water, and packaged sweets for them. These efforts have been matched with "hundreds or thousands of activities of this kind" all across Romania, she added.
"There are many that are doing more, especially in northern Romania, where most of the Ukrainians arrived," Cristea said.
Despite the attack, Cristea remains defiant that Ukrainians "are not going to stay under Russian rule."
"They are free people," she said.