In the basement of the Saint-Sulpice Church in Paris, piles of clothes, shoes, and toys are neatly laid out. Tables are topped with non-perishable foods, feminine hygiene care, and medicine kits. Volunteers quietly hover by the stalls, speaking in hushed tones.

 

This donation drive, held every Saturday and Wednesday, is for Ukrainian refugees who have fled Russia’s war on their country, which began on February 24.

 

To date, 30,000 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in France, and housing minister Emmanuelle Wargon has announced that the government is preparing to host nearly 100,000.

 

Ludmila, a French-Ukrainian artist and real estate worker, volunteers at the church and said that each week, she sees more refugees.

 

“Last Saturday, 276 refugees came here,” she said. “Initially, we held the drive at the Ukrainian church, Saint Volodymyr, just a couple streets over, but we were overwhelmed with the response and quickly ran out of space.”

 

Outside, a line of Ukrainian refugees are waiting patiently. Inna is at the front, watching her two young daughters flit in and out of the doorway.

 

“We left Ukraine one week after the war began,” she said. “There were a lot of air sirens and explosions around us. It took us three days on the train to get to Paris from where we were living in Zaporizhzhia.”

 

Inna, a teacher, left behind her husband and 23-year-old son, as Ukraine has banned fighting-age men from leaving the country.

 

She arrived at Porte de Versailles, an exhibition centre-turned-refugee shelter in Paris, along with 600 other Ukrainians.

 

After spending a night there, they were all taken to a hotel, where they have been living since, awaiting.

 

“The French have provided us with all the necessities: food, medicine, clothes,” she said. “We are very grateful to the French people, they are so hospitable.”

 

Macron on a pedestal

 

The Ukraine war has featured as a backdrop to the French presidential elections, of which the first round will be held on Sunday.

 

According to a French poll held days after the invasion began, 88 percent said they were shocked and a majority were “very worried”.

 

The war has affected most presidential front-runners, with analysts saying Emmanuel Macron, who has consistently led the race, is benefitting from the “rallying round the flag” phenomenon.

 

The president has been involved in shuttle diplomacy, holding several rounds of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

 

“Macron has always perceived the role of chief of state as [that of] a historic European leader,” Bruno Cautres, a researcher at Cevipof Sciences Po, told Al Jazeera.

 

“He is sending us a message that if he’s re-elected, there will be an important measure of political, defence, and security, and energy independence from the European Union at the centre of his next term.”

 

Macron appeared to have unified the three positions he is currently holding – as French president, a presidential candidate, and the president of the Council of the European Union – into one.

 

“Through his activities as the president of the EU council in the management of the Ukrainian war, he is sending us a message that he is an ambitious presidential candidate, a reformer, that is active on the European scene,” Cautres explained.

 

Regarding crisis management, Macron has shown he is able to offer solutions, he added.

 

Tristan Guerre, political analyst at Sciences Po Grenoble, said Macron’s actions resonate with what voters expect of him.

 

“France has a long tradition of being a mediator in important international conflicts,” he said. “Macron is perpetuating this diplomatic role France has, which is great for his public image. He chose to portray his leadership on the international stage instead of solidly campaigning for his re-election.”

 

Macron held his first major campaign rally last Saturday, and unlike the other candidates, did not take participate in a televised national debate a few weeks ago.

 

“The Ukraine war has propelled him into a new stratosphere – the statesman level,” Guerre said. “He’s been placed on a pedestal, but that could also put him at a disadvantage, as he is not addressing the concerns that people have, mainly on the [domestic] economic front, such as purchasing power and the cost of living.”

 

Shuffling the deck on candidates

The Ukraine war has also benefitted far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, who – with the rise of energy prices – has reoriented her campaign to focus primarily on the issue of purchasing power.

 

In recent days, polls have suggested she may be closing in on Macron.

 

“The war in Ukraine has been essential to understanding this election because it has either shuffled the deck or deepened the dynamics and differences of the candidates,” Guerre said.

 

In the run-up to the 2017 presidential elections, in which she ultimately lost to Macron in a second round, Le Pen travelled to Moscow, met Putin and posed for photographs with the Russian president in the Kremlin.

 

In 2014, she expressed support for Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and in the same year presided over a nine million euro ($9.8m) loan from a Russian bank to finance her party’s election campaigns.