Investigators think the fire was arson after a swastika was found to have been painted on the door.
ADVERTISEMENTA fire ravaged a Ukrainian refugee shelter in northern Germany, local police announced on Thursday.
The fire broke out on Wednesday evening and almost completely destroyed the building, located in Gross Strömkendorf, east of Hamburg.
According to police reports, the 15 refugees and staff at the shelter managed to escape.
Investigators think the fire was arson but not politically motivated, even though a swastika was found to have been painted on the door.
This is not the first time that shelters hosting Ukrainian refugees have burnt down this month.
Earlier in October, a shelter in Apolda (Thuringia) caught fire. No one was inside the building at the time, and investigators have not determined whether it was intentional.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, more than a million Ukrainian refugees have fled to Germany.