THE number of refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine is expected to top two million in the next two days, the head of the UN refugee agency said Tuesday.

“I do think that we will pass the two million mark today or maybe at the latest tomorrow. So, it doesn’t stop,” Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, told reporters in Oslo.

Yesterday, the UNHCR put the number of refugees at more than 1.7 million.

Grandi made his remarks after visiting Moldova, Poland and Romania, all of which have received refugees pouring across the border from Ukraine since Russia invaded the country on February 24.

For comparison, Grandi said the Balkan wars in Bosnia and Kosovo saw “two to three million people, but over a period of eight years.” 

While other parts of the “world have seen this,” Grandi added, “in Europe it’s the first time since the Second World War.”

After several failed attempts, Russia promised to open humanitarian corridors today to allow civilians to flee the Ukrainian cities that have come under artillery fire. – AFP, March 8, 2022.