More than 140,000 refugees have joined the 2 million others who have fled Ukraine and the fighting sparked by the Russian offensive, according to the latest United Nations tally on Wednesday.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) counted 2,155,271 refugees on its website dedicated to this number as of 11:00 GMT. This number is 143,959 more than the previous figure for Tuesday.
The number of people fleeing the fighting in Ukraine who sought refuge abroad on Tuesday crossed the two million mark, just 12 days after the start of Russia's military operation.
The fastest growing in Europe
For his part, the High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, noted that it is the fastest-developing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.
While the authorities and the United Nations expect an influx of more refugees.
It is noteworthy that several attempts to open humanitarian corridors have failed since the start of the war, but a new agreement was announced, on Wednesday morning.
5 million
According to the United Nations, 4 million people may leave the country to escape the war.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has estimated that Europe could expect to receive 5 million refugees if the conflict continues.
It is noteworthy that before this conflict Ukraine had a population of more than 37 million in the territory controlled by Kyiv, not including Crimea, annexed by Russia, or areas under the control of pro-Moscow separatists.
Since February 24
The Russian forces, which began their operations on Ukrainian territory on February 24, advanced in the southern and eastern regions of the western neighbour, while the capital, Kyiv, was besieged in preparation for its entry.
But it faced fierce Ukrainian resistance that delayed its operations in a number of cities, but it did not dissuade Moscow from changing its lines. The Kremlin has emphasized more than once that it will continue its military operations until achieving its goals of stripping Ukraine of specific weapons and making it a neutral state in a manner that does not threaten Russian interests.
At the same time, this Russian move called for an unprecedented Western vigilance, and a wave of harsh sanctions affected many sectors in Russia, as well as the wealthy and politicians, led by President Vladimir Putin.
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