Russia war on Ukraine displacing 'over 7 million people': EU

"We are witnessing what could become the largest humanitarian crisis on our European continent in many, many years," Janez Lenarcic told a media conference after a meeting of EU interior ministers focused on the refugee flow out of Ukraine.

By AFP | Updated: Feb 28, 2022, 07.44 PM IST

Russia-Ukraine War: At least 150,000 people flee Ukraine to neighboring countries, says UNHCR

Russia's war on Ukraine is displacing "over seven million people", the EU commissioner for crisis management said Sunday.

"We are witnessing what could become the largest humanitarian crisis on our European continent in many, many years," Janez Lenarcic told a media conference after a meeting of EU interior ministers focused on the refugee flow out of Ukraine.

"Currently, the expected number of displaced Ukrainians is over seven million people," he said, but cautioned he was giving only "rough estimates" from the UN because fighting prevented accurate counting.

A shelling, a young girl, and hopeless moments in a hospital

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In the port city of Mariupol, where Ukrainians are trying to fend off a Russian advance, an ambulance raced into a city hospital Sunday, carrying a 6-year-old girl mortally injured in Russian shelling.

He added that, according to the UN, if the war continued, "there will be around 18 million Ukrainians that will be affected in humanitarian terms, be it in Ukraine proper, or in the neighbouring countries".

Lenarcic said that "the figures are big and we will have to prepare for this kind of emergency, which is of historical proportions".

In Video: Russia-Ukraine War: At least 150,000 people flee Ukraine to neighboring countries, says UNHCR

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