More than 500,000 refugees flee Ukraine conflict: UN

Copy of Romania_Ukraine_Invasion_13183.jpg-22c32-1645964592327 — A child refugee who fled the conflict from neighbouring Ukraine covers her face in the event hall of a hotel offering shelter in Siret, Romania, Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022. Romania, which shares around 600 kilometres (372 miles) of borders with Ukraine to the north, is seeing an influx of refugees from the country as many flee Russia’s attacks.(AP Photo/Alexandru Dobre) Image Credit: AP

Geneva: More than half a million people have fled Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion five days ago, with more than half fleeing into Poland, the United Nations said Monday.

Oksana, 30, holds a seven day old child as she arrived by bus at the parking lot organised to help Ukrainian refugees with transportation and accommodation to different cities in Poland and other countries after Russia launched a massive military operation against Ukraine. Image Credit: Reuters

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Refugees fleeing conflict in neighboring Ukraine arrive to in Przemysl, Poland, Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022. Street fighting broke out in Ukraine's second-largest city Sunday and Russian troops put increasing pressure on strategic ports in the country's south following a wave of attacks on airfields and fuel facilities elsewhere that appeared to mark a new phase of Russia's invasion. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek) Image Credit: AP

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Ukrainian refugees walk along vehicles lining-up to cross the border from Ukraine into Moldova, at Mayaky-Udobne crossing border point near Udobne, Ukraine, Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022. The U.N. refugee agency says nearly 120,000 people have so far fled Ukraine into neighboring countries in the wake of the Russian invasion. The number was going up fast as Ukrainians grabbed their belongings and rushed to escape from a deadly Russian onslaught. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits) Image Credit: AP

Volunteers prepare sandwiches for refugees crossing the border from Ukraine at the Romanian-Ukrainian border, in Siret, Romania. As hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians seek refuge in neighboring countries, cradling children in one arm and clutching belongings in the other, leaders in Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania are offering a hearty welcome. Image Credit: AP

Ukrainian refugees arrive from their homeland at Zahonyi railway station close to the Hungarian-Ukrainian border on February 27, 2022. - The UN refugee agency said on February 27, 2022 more than 368,000 people had fled Ukraine since Russia invaded on Thursday. (Photo by Attila KISBENEDEK / AFP) Image Credit: AFP

A Ukrainian couple with a young child, from the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, procede to their temporary lodging at a refugee center in Berlin on February 25, 2022. - Germany, which in 2015 took in more than a million migrants -- many fleeing war in Syria and Iraq -- has pledged to "provide massive help" should there be a large-scale influx in neighbouring nations of Ukrainian refugees. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP) / TO GO WITH AFP STORY by Hui Min NEO Image Credit: AFP

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"More than 500,000 refugees have now fled from Ukraine into neighbouring countries," UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi said in a tweet.

The latest and still growing count had 281,000 people entering Poland, more than 84,500 in Hungary, about 36,400 in Moldova, over 32,500 in Romania and about 30,000 in Slovakia, UNHCR spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo said.

The rest were scattered in unidentified other countries, she said.

Another train carrying hundreds of refugees from Ukraine arrived early Monday in the town of Przemysl in southeastern Poland.

In winter coats to protect them against near-freezing temperatures, with small suitcases, they lined up at the platform to the exit. Some waved at the cameras to show they felt relief to be out of the war zone. Many were making phone calls.