GENEVA: Nearly 200,000 people have fled Ukraine in just 24 hours, bringing to 875,000 the number of refugees seeking shelter in neighbouring countries since the Russian invasion began on February 24.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has projected that more than four million Ukrainian refugees may eventually need protection and assistance, while the European Union’s crisis management commissioner has said the figure could reach 7m.

More than 37m people lived in areas under the Kyiv government’s control before last week’s invasion.

The 874,026 refugees have headed to:

Poland

Just over half of those who have fled Ukraine have crossed west into Poland. The UNHCR said on Wednesday that 453,982 people had done so.

Most arrivals are women and children from all parts of Ukraine. Polish officials have said that anyone fleeing Ukraine will be welcomed, whatever their nationality.

Hungary

Some 116,348 people have so far crossed over into Hungary, the agency said.

Thousands of refugees have already arrived in Budapest. A photographer saw dozens of refugees disembarking from trains arriving every 30 minutes in the Hungarian capital from the Ukrainian border on Tuesday.

Several border towns such as Zahony have turned public buildings into reception centres, with ordinary people donating food and clothes, the interior ministry said.

Moldova

The UNHCR said 79,315 people who fled Ukraine are now in Moldova.

An airlift from Dubai was due to arrive bringing more emergency supplies for refugees.

Slovakia

The UN agency said 67,000 had fled across Ukraine’s shortest border to Slovakia.

“The government is maintaining an open and welcoming policy towards refugees, and has rapidly changed asylum laws to help fast-track asylum procedures,” the agency said.

Romania

The agency said 44,540 Ukrainians are now in Romania.

Some refugees reported they had headed to Romania to avoid massive jams at the Polish border.

Most are passing through Siret in the north of the country, where a camp has been set up, along with a second near Sighetu Marmatiei, where volunteers were handing out hot tea, coffee and pizza, as well as flowers.

Russia

The UNHCR said 42,900 people had fled across Ukraine’s longest border since the invasion began — around five per cent of the total number.

Belarus

Some 341 people had crossed over into Belarus, the UNHCR said.

Onward movement

The refugee agency said 69,600 of those who had fled Ukraine into neighbouring countries had already moved onwards towards other European states.

Karolina Lindholm Billing, the UNHCR representative to Ukraine, estimated on Tuesday that a million people had been internally displaced by the invasion.

Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2022