Children caught up in Belarus-Poland border crisis face bitter nights without shelter

This coming week, the mercury will dip close to zero degrees Celsius (32 Fahrenheit) at night; rain is also forecast. Winter is coming and they are stuck out in the open, caught up in a “All measures are being taken to provide assistance to refugees. The frontier service ensures the necessary order and protection of the state border.”Poland has barred journalists and international observers from entering the border region, making it difficult to assess the situation on the Polish side of the fence. But there is no sign yet of tensions easing.The Polish Border Guard claimed on Sunday that dozens of migrants with the help of Belarusian security forces were preparing a “major attempt to break through” the Polish border.”Some of the tents are starting to disappear. Foreigners get instructions, equipment and gas from Belarusian services. You can see that Belarusian side is getting ready today for a big attempt at crossing the border. Our forces are ready for action,” the border guard tweeted.Polish authorities also reported seeing more groups of armed Belarusian officers and a growing commotion among migrants. Belarus state TV, ATN, reported that a group of about 100 or more refugees was on its way to the migrant camp.The Polish Ministry of National Defense tweeted earlier Sunday that its forces in the Kuznica border area had been placed “on standby.”Late Saturday, Poland sent a mass SMS message to phones in the region to warn that rumors that the Polish border was not well guarded or that migrants would be allowed to pass through to Germany were a “total lie and nonsense.” Another SMS message read, in part: “The Polish border is sealed. BLR authorities told you lies. Go back to Minsk!”The messages include a link to a Polish government website with a more extensive and blunt message, warning that any effort to storm the border could lead to “dangerous developments.”The show of force unfolding across the region is continuing to test a fragile political order, with allegations from the United States on Russia’s military buildup deepening concerns over the potential for a wider geopolitical crisis.Neighboring Ukraine is also scaling up security, announcing Thursday that it would hold military drills with some 8,500 servicemen and 15 helicopters in an area near its borders with Poland and Belarus to counter a possible migrant crisis.As long as the international standoff continues, those trapped between the Polish security forces in front of them and the Belarusian security forces behind will have little but hope and smoldering fires to keep them going. CNN’s Antonia Mortensen and Katharina Krebs contributed to this report.