Exodus of Ukrainian refugees slows, but now nears 2.6 million

The number of Ukrainians who have fled their country as a result of the war with Russia rose today to 2.59 million, according to figures updated daily by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), which seem to indicate some momentary decrease in this exodus. 

It is the first day since the first days of the Russian offensive that the daily increase in refugees has not exceeded 100,000 people, according to UNHCR statistics.

The exodus of Ukrainian refugees is the largest in Europe since World War II, surpassing even those caused by all the wars in the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s (2.4 million according to estimates by humanitarian organisations). 

To the exodus out of Ukraine must be added the more than two million people internally displaced by the conflict in the country, where, according to initial assessments by humanitarian organisations, the war has directly affected 12.6 million people, more than a quarter of the total population. 

UNHCR estimated in the early days of the war that it could generate up to four million refugees, although given the rapidly increasing numbers, UNHCR officials acknowledged that it is possible that the flow of people fleeing the country could be even greater. 

More than half of the nearly 2.6 million Ukrainian refugees are in Poland, which hosts 1.57 million, while 235,000 fled to Hungary, 185,000 to Slovakia, 105,000 to Russia, 104,000 to Moldova and 84,000 to Romania, among other countries, according to UNHCR. 

The Ukrainian authorities have managed to open a humanitarian corridor to bring food and medicine to the besieged city of Mariupol (southeast), one of the hardest hit by the Russian army since it began its invasion of the country on 24 February. 

"Green corridor open. A humanitarian caravan left Zaporiyia for Mariupol," the city council announced on its Telegram account. 

"More than 90 tonnes of food and medicine are on their way to the city, which has been blocked for 11 days," the local authorities say. 

They explain in this message that "the clergy of the Orthodox Church took the initiative to personally accompany the humanitarian caravan - all so that 400,000 residents of Mariupol receive the critical and long-awaited aid!" they add. 

The Ukrainian authorities agreed with the Russian authorities to open up to seven humanitarian corridors to evacuate citizens and provide food to the attacked cities in Ukraine. 

However, these corridors have not worked as expected and both sides accuse each other of blocking them. 

Mariupol, a city of some 500,000 inhabitants in southeastern Ukraine on the shores of the Inner Sea of Azov, is an important industrial centre.