UN says 2.3M people fled Ukraine amid war with Russia

By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA) - More than 2.3 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia launched a war on its neighbor late February, the UN refugee agency said on Thursday.

“The escalation of conflict in Ukraine has caused destruction of civilian infrastructure and civilian casualties and has forced people to flee their homes seeking safety, protection, and assistance,” the UNHCR said on its website.

“As the situation continues to unfold, an estimated 4 million people may flee Ukraine,” it added.

Most of those fleeing Ukraine, more than 1.4 million, have arrived in neighboring Poland, with 214,000 entering Hungary, over 165,000 going to Slovakia, 84,000 to Romania, and more than 82,000 to Moldova.

Nearly 260,000 refugees have gone to other unnamed European countries.

The UN refugee agency said that 97,000 people have fled to Russia as 96,000 of them moved from the breakaway Donetsk and Luhansk regions between Feb. 18 and Feb. 23.

That was before the Russian war on Ukraine on Feb. 24.

The International Organization for Migration said it had helped almost 100 third-country nationals from Tunisia, Ghana, and Lebanon, who fled the war in Ukraine, to return safely to their countries of origin voluntarily.

Among them were 77 Tunisians forced to flee to Romania and Poland, three Lebanese nationals who moved to Romania, and 17 Ghanaian students. Seven other students will leave for Ghana on Thursday.