The number of refugees fleeing the conflict in Ukraine has surged to nearly 836,000, United Nations figures showed Wednesday, as fighting intensified on day seven of Russia’s invasion, IgbereTV reports.
In all, 835,928 people have fled across the country’s borders, according to the website of UNHCR, the UN refugee agency.
That marks a huge jump from the 677,000 announced Tuesday afternoon by the organisation’s chief Filippo Grandi.
More than half have headed west into Poland, according to tallies completed up to Tuesday.
UNHCR figures show that 454,000 people had fled to Poland; 116,000 to Hungary; 67,000 to Slovakia; 65,000 to Moldova, 43,000 to Russia, 38,000 to Romania and 350 to Belarus.
Meanwhile, 52,000 have moved on to other European countries.
An additional 96,000 people had crossed into Russia from the separatist Donetsk and Luhansk regions between February 18 and 23, UNHCR noted.
Russian forces said they had captured the Ukrainian port of Kherson on Wednesday, as Russian and Ukrainian troops battled in the streets of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and President Volodymyr Zelensky said Moscow wanted to “erase” his country
