Warsaw, March 14, (dpa/GNA) – Almost 1.8 million people have taken refuge in Poland since the Russian attack on Ukraine, officials said on Monday.
At least 29,600 people crossed the border on Monday, bringing the total number to 1.77 million, the Polish Border Guard said. Poland and Ukraine are connected by a border of more than 500 kilometres.
There is currently no official information on how many refugees remained in Poland and how many have already moved on to other EU states, but the number who had reached Germany by early on Monday stands at 146,998, according to the country’s Interior Ministry.
The true figure is likely to be higher because only those refugees who are identified by the Federal Police are recorded.
There are usually no fixed border controls at the EU’s internal borders and Ukrainians are allowed to enter Germany without a visa. It’s also not possible to say how many of them may be travelling on from Germany to friends or relatives in other countries.
According to UN figures, around 2.7 million people from Ukraine have already sought refuge abroad. Most of them initially stayed in neighbouring countries.
However, Polish government data also shows that about 186,000 people have crossed the border from Poland into Ukraine since the war started. Almost 83% of those were Ukrainian.
Additionally, almost 250,000 people have opted to flee to Russia from Ukraine amid Moscow’s invasion of its western neighbour, according to the Russian Defence Ministry.
That figure includes 55,000 children, said Major General Mikhail Mizintsev, in comments reported by the TASS newswire. He said 8,575 civilians, including 1,292 children, have fled to Russia in just the past two days. The refugees have come from both the main part of Ukraine as well as separatist Russian-backed regions in its east.
He also said Russia has sent more than 2,100 tons of aid. Those figures could be independently verified.
GNA