Ukrainian refugees from Moldova arrive via air bridge in Germany

German border police officers check the documents of Ukrainian refugees who arrived in Germany with a first refugee plane from Moldova, after fleeing from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at the international airport of Frankfurt, Germany, March 25, 2022. Boris Roessler/Pool via REUTERS

BERLIN (Reuters) - The first 134 of 2,500 Ukrainian refugees who Germany promised to admit from Moldova arrived on Friday as part of broader European plans to help Ukraine's neighbours look after those fleeing the Russian invasion.

The government of Moldova, one of Europe's poorest and smallest countries, had appealed for help to deal with the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees straining critical infrastructure.