Kiev: As Russia’s war on Ukraine is set to enter its sixth week, the number of refugees fleeing Ukraine has now crossed the 4 million mark, the chief of the UN refugee agency, Filippo Grandi said on Wednesday.
Taking to Twitter, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi wrote, I have just arrived in Ukraine. In Lviv, I will discuss with the authorities, the UN and other partners ways to increase our support to people affected and displaced by this senseless war.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the number of refugees fleeing Ukraine includes over 2,04,000 third-country nationals. IOM has been providing food, core-relief items, cash, and protection support including awareness-raising and counter-trafficking in Ukraine and neighbouring countries.
More than 2.3 million Ukrainian refugees have fled to Poland, while hundreds of thousands have fled to neighbouring countries including Romania, Moldova and Hungary, reported CNN citing UN data. Grandi has previously called the exodus of refugees from Ukraine the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.
Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24 in response to calls from the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics for protection against intensifying attacks by Ukrainian troops.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the special operation, which targets Ukrainian military infrastructure, aims to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine. Moscow has said it has no plans to occupy Ukraine. Western nations have imposed numerous sanctions on Russia.