The United Nations refugee agency said Wednesday that more than one million refugees have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries since the start of the Russian invasion a week ago, which accounts for 2% of Ukraine’s population.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi stressed that the agency’s predictions say up to four million people are to leave the country will need assistance and protection as Russian troops have taken over its first city in Ukraine, and fighting has intensified in Kyiv.
The majority of the refugees went to the neighboring countries of Romania, Poland, and Hungary, but many other countries have said they will take Ukrainian refugees, with Japan becoming the latest to make the offer.
After martial law was declared and the Ukrainian government called on citizens to help fight against the Russians, Ukrainian men aged 16 to 60 are not allowed to leave the country.
The UN and its humanitarian partners launched on Tuesday coordinated emergency appeals for a combined $1.7 billion to deliver humanitarian support to Ukraine people and its refugees, but after only two hours UN’s under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, announced that over $1.5 billion has already been pledged.
According to UN estimates, more than12 million people in Ukraine while more than four million Ukrainian refugees may need protection and relief in the coming months.
Meanwhile, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, informed that two plans were launched to help people across Ukraine and beyond.
The first plan within Ukraine requires $1.1 billion over the next three months to meet the escalating humanitarian needs of more than 6 million people affected and displaced by military operations.
The second plan, as Guterres explained, requires $551 million to help Ukrainians who fled the country, principally to Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Moldova
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