UN refugee chief: Exodus from Ukraine fastest-growing since WWII

The United Nations high commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grandi, said on Sunday that over 1.5 million refugees from Ukraine have fled to nearby countries, adding that this is the “fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.”

“More than 1.5 million refugees from Ukraine have crossed into neighboring countries in 10 days,” Grandi wrote on Twitter. “The fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.”

“In the coming days millions more lives will be uprooted, unless there is an immediate end to this senseless conflict,” the UN Refugee Agency added in a separate tweet.

Masses of Ukrainian residents left the country after Russian forces invaded the country, with U.S. intelligence agencies assessing that anywhere from 1 million to 5 million Ukrainians could be displaced. 

Nearby countries, including Romania, Hungary and Poland, have agreed to accept refugees, though some countries may not have the capacity to take in the amounts set.

“These are small countries bordering Ukraine, so even if they’re willing to host Ukrainians, they don’t necessarily have the capacity, and so we’ll need to see much more technical and financial support coming from other EU [European Union] countries and I would argue also the U.S,” Daphne Panayotatos, advocate for Europe at Refugees International, told The Hill. 

Last week, the U.N. estimated that about 1 million Ukrainians had left the country since the start of the invasion, which accounted for 2 percent of the country’s population.

“In just seven days we have witnessed the exodus of one million refugees from Ukraine to neighboring countries,” Grandi said last week. “For many millions more, inside Ukraine, it’s time for guns to fall silent, so that life-saving humanitarian assistance can be provided.”

The U.S. has sent Ukraine over $1 billion to help the nation’s military over the past year, and has said there will be more aid to come.

–Updated at 1:07 p.m.