A growing number of refugees are fleeing Ukraine following Russia’s invasion of the embattled country.
CNN reports the United Nations has confirmed that more than one million people have fled across the borders of Ukraine since Russian forces invaded seven days ago. UNICEF notes that half a million of the refugees are children.
Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, took to Twitter this week to announce the grim news.
“In just seven days we have witnessed the exodus of one million refugees from Ukraine to neighbouring countries,” Grandi wrote. “For many millions more, inside Ukraine, it’s time for guns to fall silent, so that life-saving humanitarian assistance can be provided.”
On Friday, Grandi revealed that the number of refugees has now reached 1.2 million. “As the number of refugees from Ukraine in neighboring countries reaches 1.2 million, I am in Moldova, where the government, local authorities and overall population are making huge efforts to welcome and organize those arriving across the border,” he wrote on Twitter.
For comparison, the UN Refugee Agency says it took three months for one million refugees to leave Syria in 2013.
Additionally, Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said on Thursday that around one million people in Ukraine have been displaced within the country due to the conflict.
“Thousands of people, including older people, pregnant women, as well as children and people with disabilities, are being forced to gather in underground shelters and subway stations to escape explosions,” Bachelet said, per CNN. “Many people in situations of vulnerability are separated from families and effectively trapped.”
As previously reported, among the refugees fleeing the country are thousands of African students spread across Ukraine, some of whom are trapped and fearing for their safety amid Russia’s assault on the country.
