The number of refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine has now risen to 2 million, the head of the UN refugee agency UNHCR said on Tuesday.
“Today, the refugee departure from Ukraine reaches two million people,” Filippo Grandi said on his Twitter.
Today the outflow of refugees from Ukraine reaches two million people.
Two million.
— Filippo Grandi (@FilippoGrandi) March 8, 2022
Speaking to French radio station France Inter on Tuesday, Grandi called the milestone a “terrifying” number.
“There are hundreds of thousands of people on the move, trying to flee the combat zone and seek refuge first inside Ukraine in the safe zones. But safe space is shrinking and people are inevitably trying to cross borders,” he said.
Almost all refugees are women, children and the elderly, according to Grandi, who said she has not seen such a preponderance in her entire career.
“It’s a very specific population. It is significant that on International Women’s Day, men wage war and women pay the consequences,” Grandi continued.
He said most refugees had traveled to Poland, Moldova and other neighboring countries, adding that most moved to “where they have connections, family”.
“What we fear is a second wave of people who have far fewer resources and connections and who will be far more vulnerable,” warned Grandi.
In another publication on the net, UNHCR Global Communications Director Joung-ah Ghedini-Williams said it was “particularly painful” to reach this milestone on International Women’s Day. “Ukrainian women carry an unimaginably heavy burden on their shoulders. The world needs to continue to support them,” she said.
Other agency spokesperson Shabia Mantoo reinforced the fact that the war in Ukraine is “the fastest growing refugee crisis on European soil since the Second World War”.
Romania has taken in 281,000 refugees since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, the Romanian Border Police told CNN on Tuesday, although 208,000 of them have already left the country.
Border police did not specify where the refugees were going after leaving Romania.
latest war news
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that humanitarian corridors had opened in five Ukrainian cities, including the capital Kiev. Russian forces said they stopped attacks on route locations around 9 am local time.
In addition to Kiev, runners are located in Sumy, Cherhihiv, Kharkiv and Mariupol.
Ukrainian Defense Ministry officials also confirmed that rescues in some of the corridors are taking place. Foreign students are being taken from Sumy to Poltava.
UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet on Tuesday called for imprisoned civilians to be able to leave safely. “I repeat my urgent appeal for a peaceful end to hostilities,” she declared.
Highlights from the last 24 hours
- UN says number of refugees from war reaches 2 million
- Ceasefire in five cities allows evacuation of civilians in humanitarian corridors
- Attack on residential building in Sumy on Monday night (7) leaves dozens dead
- Third round of talks ends with a “small advance” on humanitarian corridors
- Russia calls for return to ‘peaceful coexistence’ with the US, as during the Cold War
- US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said “it is clear that Putin has a plan to destroy Ukraine”
Source: CNN Brasil
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