At least 1.2 million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion began, according to the latest UN count.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (HCR) recorded exactly 1,209,976 refugees on its website at 13:00 Greek time. This is more than 171,000 compared to yesterday, Thursday.
Authorities and the United Nations expect the flow to increase, as the Russian military appears to be focusing its efforts on major Ukrainian cities.
The United Nations today welcomed “information that the two sides agreed to facilitate the safe passage of civilians out of conflict zones”. The UN had not yet formally announced the agreement by noon.
According to the UN, four million people may want to leave the country to escape the war.
At least 37 million Ukrainians live in areas controlled by Kyiv – which do not include Russian-annexed Crimea or separatist-held areas.
HCR also tries to avoid counting refugees crossing a border twice in one country before continuing on to another European country or beyond.
Poland has been hosting by far the largest number of refugees arriving there since the Russian invasion began. A total of 649,903 people are in Poland, according to the HCR count, 101,921 more than yesterday and 54.2% of the total recorded.
According to the Polish border guard, a total of 624,500 people escaped from Ukraine to Poland, according to data released today.
Prior to the crisis, Poland was already hosting about 1.5 million Ukrainians, most of them migrants who came to work in the European Union.
Hungary welcomed 144,738 refugees, or 12% of the total, and almost 12,000 more than yesterday, according to the HCR.
The country has five border posts with Ukraine and several border towns, such as Zaloni, have public buildings and support centers where Hungarian citizens come to offer goods or assistance.
In Moldova, the number of refugees increased, reaching 103,254, or 9.2% of the total.
A spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on the ground in Moldova said in a press conference today that some of the refugees continue their journey to Romania or Hungary, often to be reunited with their families.
About 90,329 people fled Ukraine and took refuge in Slovakia, 7.5% of the total, according to the HCR.
In Romania, the HCR counts 57,194 refugees, about 4.7% of the total.
Two camps have been set up, one in Sigetu Marmatiei and the other in Siret.
The HCR also clarified that 110,876 people (9.2% of the total) continued their journey, after crossing the Ukrainian border, to other European countries.
About 53,300 people also fled to Russia, 4.4% of the total, according to the HCR.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the German Interior Ministry said today that more than 18,000 refugees have so far arrived in Germany from Ukraine and about 3,000 of them are not Ukrainian nationals.
“But of course people who are now leaving the war zone can enter the EU, whether they are Ukrainian asylum seekers or third-country nationals,” he said.
He added that most non-Ukrainians had a residence permit in Ukraine, which means they do not have to go through asylum.
Source: AMPE
Source: Capital
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