A million people have fled Ukraine since Russia launched son invasion of the country, marking the fasting exodus of refugees in the century, the UN refugee agency said on Wednesday.
Shabia Mantoo, spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said “at this rateit could become “the biggest refugee crisis this century.”
Russia and Ukraine said on Wednesday they were ready to hold talks for the second time, should take place Thursday in Belarus. There seems to be little common land between the two sides.
Also on Wednesday, the United Nations General Assembly condemned the invasion and called on Russia must withdraw its troops from Ukraine.
Russia claims to have taken control of son first ukrainian major city, Kherson. Kherson Mayor Igor Kolykhaev said Russian soldiers were in the city and came to city administration building. He said he had asked them not to fire on the civilians and to allow crews to collect bodies from the streets.
“We have no Ukrainian forces in the cityonly civilians and people here who want LIVE,” he said in A declaration posted on Facebook.
In a video address to the nation on Thursday morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Ukrainians to keep up resistance but didn’t comment on if the Russians seized cities, including Kherson.
“They won’t have peace here,” Zelenskyy said. “They won’t have food. They won’t have here one quiet moment. »
Meanwhile, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi also tweeted: “In just seven days we witnessed the exodus of one millions refugees from Ukraine to neighboring countries countries.”
The count is more more than 2% of Ukraine’s population, although some of those fleeing Ukraine are citizens of other countries.
European countries has been the subject of criticism for welcome Ukrainian refugees with open arms, while hesitating to accept refugees of other races and backgrounds.
The UN agency predicted that up at 4 millions people could eventually leave Ukraine, but warned that even that projection could be revised upwards. The World Bank counted Ukraine population at 44 millions at the end of 2020.
The Ukrainian State Emergency Service said more over 2,000 civilians died, although it has been impossible to verify this claim. UN human rights office said he had registered the deaths of 136 civilians, including 13 children, in Ukraine since February 24 start of the invasion.
The European Commission said on Wednesday that it give temporary residence permits for refugees fleeing violence and allow that they study and work in the bloc of 27 nations. the move would like need approval of Member States, which have already voiced wide support.
