More than five million people have now fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion began, it has been estimated. The Geneva-based UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said more than half of the total had fled to Poland.
Although many have stayed there, an unknown number have travelled onwards because there are few border checks within the European Union. In addition to the refugees, the UN says that more than seven million people have been displaced within Ukraine.
Ukraine had a pre-war population of 44 million. The nation's government also said its evacuation efforts to bring some civilians out of the war-torn city of Mariupol will resume today. Deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said there is a “preliminary” agreement to operate a so-called humanitarian corridor westward to the Ukraine-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia.
