European nations are stepping up to help Ukrainians flee Russian aggression.
Countries across Europe are bracing for a historic flood of refugees following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began last Thursday, February 24. On Saturday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs released a report that estimated that upward of 160,000 Ukrainians had been “internally displaced” within the country and that more than 116,000 people had fled Ukraine. Europe has been preparing for this. In December, Ukraine Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov warned that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could lead to as many as 5 million Ukrainians seeking refugee status. Poland’s Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Wasik said in a January 28 radio interview that his country was preparing for ” a wave of up to a million people.” Polish troops recently set up processing centers along the border and have repurposed an arena to be used as a shelter for 500 people, The New York Times reports.
