Europe is facing a massive refugee crisis as Ukrainians flee Russian troops invading their country.
"More than 1.45 million people have left Ukraine since Russia invaded the country nine days ago, the International Organization for Migration said on Saturday, sparking what the United Nations agency described as the fastest and largest displacement of people in Europe since World War II. Since Russia invaded Ukraine last week, large numbers of Ukrainians have fled, most heading west and toward eastern members of the European Union—Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia—that have pledged assistance," The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.
Poland says 827,000 refugees have entered the country from Ukraine since the invasion began.
"In the short time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, more asylum seekers have crossed into the EU than in all of 2015, when some 1.3 million arrived from the Middle East and elsewhere in a wave of migration that tested the bloc’s solidarity and placed pressure on leaders including former German Chancellor Angela Merkel," the newspaper reported. "European rail operators are allowing free travel to anyone carrying Ukrainian identification papers, and the EU agreed on Thursday to grant Ukrainian refugees temporary residence permits, removing the need for them to request asylum."
The fact the refugees are fleeing away from Russia has undermined Vladimir Putin's propaganda about his invasion.
Any journalist in Moscow please ask Sergey Lavrov:\n\nIf Russia is saving Ukraine from a genocidal regime, and Ukrainians are welcoming Russian forces as liberators, why are the refugees fleeing west, not east?— Sarah Pritchard \u267f\ufe0f (@Sarah Pritchard \u267f\ufe0f) 1646300480
Videos have shown chaotic scenes at train stations as Ukrainians flee the country.
Many times, my dad told me the story of Nazi forces attacking Kyiv, strafing the train station. When he was a 9 year old fleeing the war with his mother and sister. I didn\u2019t really get it until now.pic.twitter.com/WlJH7tR13T— Alexander S. Vindman (@Alexander S. Vindman) 1646147070
