The exodus of refugees caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine is growing the fastest in Europe since World War II. On the fourteenth day of the conflict, nearly 2.2 million people have already fled the country, according to the latest count from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Since the start of the invasion on February 24, 165,000 people have left Ukraine every day, on average. A record 208,938 refugees were registered on Monday.
It took six days for the number of refugees to reach 1 million on March 2. The 2 million mark was crossed on Tuesday as Russian forces stepped up their bombardments in several cities across the country.
Many people who have fled Ukraine – mainly women and children – then continue their journey elsewhere in Europe to join family or friends.
According to the UN, four million people may want to leave the country to escape the war. The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, for his part estimated that Europe could expect to receive five million exiles, if the conflict continues.
“They move to other countries, they go to where they have connections, family. What worries me is that there is fear of a second wave of people who will have far fewer resources and connections, and who will be all the more vulnerable,” said Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for refugees.
Trips to Poland
Among the more than two million refugees, more than half have been received in Poland since February 24, 93% of whom are Ukrainian citizens, Polish border guards announced on Wednesday morning.
Several tens of thousands of people also visited Russia (99,300), as well as other Eastern European countries such as Slovakia (153,303), Hungary (203,222), Moldova (82 762) and Romania (85,444). The UNHCR also specified that 235,745 people continued their journey, once the Ukrainian border was crossed, towards other European countries.
In the days before the start of the invasion, 96,000 people crossed from the pro-Russian separatist territories of Donetsk and Luhansk into Russia.