More Than Two Million Flee War In Ukraine – UN

More than two million people have now fled Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24, according to the latest data from the United Nations on Tuesday.

UNICEF, the UN children’s agency, believes hundreds of thousands of them are youngsters and Authorities and the UN expect the flow to intensify as the Russian army advances deeper into Ukraine, particularly as it approaches the capital, Kyiv.

Before Russia invaded, more than 37 million people lived in Ukrainian territory under the control of the central government. Besides those who have left, an unknown number have been displaced from their homes within the country.

The International Organization for Migration said that 103,000 third-country nationals were among those who have fled.

IOM spokesman Paul Dillon said there are countless tens of thousands of others who remain in the country stranded, citing a mixture of overseas students and people who have been living or working in the country for years.

He announced a partnership with Airbnb to connect refugees to free or heavily-discounted short-term housing in neighbouring countries, with more than 26,000 hosts having signed up so far.

More than half of those who have fled Ukraine are now in Poland, with UNHCR saying on Monday 1,204,403 refugees were now in the country.The number swelled by 176,800 in 24 hours.

Some 210,239 people have fled Ukraine to other European countries, according to UNHCR.

Some 191,348 refugees are now in Hungary — 10 percent of the total who have fled Ukraine. The number was up 11,185 on Monday’s figure.