Nearly 120,000 people have fled Ukraine into Poland and other neighbouring countries in the wake of Russia’s invasion, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has said.
Cars have been backed up for several kilometres at some border crossings as authorities in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova mobilised to receive Ukrainians and provide shelter, food and legal help. Filippo Grandi, the UN’s high commissioner for refugees, said most of those who had left had headed to Poland and Moldova.
Most of the arrivals were women and children. All men aged between 18 and 60 have been banned from leaving the country to take up arms and fight.
Poland, which was already home to an estimated 1.5 million Ukrainians before Russia’s invasion and which has expressed steadfast support for Ukraine, has so far seen the bulk of those fleeing Ukraine cross into its territory.
