Despite evacuation efforts hampered by Russian shelling, Ukraine is enduring Europe’s most rapidly escalating refugee crisis since the second world war, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees said Sunday.
“More than 1.5 million refugees from Ukraine have crossed into neighboring countries in 10 days — the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II,” tweetedFilippo Grandi is the commissioner.
Also highlighting the crisis created by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.N. Refugee Agency warned Sunday that “in the coming days millions more lives will be uprooted, unless there is an immediate end to this senseless conflict.”
Putin, deadlyWhile assault has been marred by mounting war crimes allegations, he has not shown any signs that he is ready to withdraw Russian forces or stop air attacks that have made civilians’ lives more difficult. For example, in Mariupol in Ukraine, shelling on Sunday caused an evacuation effort to be launched. canceledThis is the second consecutive day.
Putin spoke with Russian flight attendants at a televised meeting that took place on Saturday. blamed the war on Ukraine’s leaders and slammed Ukrainian resistance to the invasion.
“If they continue to do what they are doing, they are calling into question the future of Ukrainian statehood,” he said. “And if this happens, it will be entirely on their conscience.”
The Russian president also attacked economic sanctions imposed by Western governments in response to the Russian invasion.
“These sanctions that are being imposed, they are akin to declaring war,” Putin said. “But thank God, we haven’t got there yet.”
Putin’s rhetoric since launching the assault of Ukraine on February 24 has heightenedThere are concerns about a possible nuclear war.
While Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian President, continues to press Western governments as well as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO) to impose no-fly zones over Ukraine’s territory, anti-war experts and activists continue to resist. fearSuch an action could trigger an additional escalation that could have devastating consequences on a worldwide scale.
Global anti-war protests were held throughout the weekend demanding an immediate end to Russia’s war on its neighbor as well as an end to NATO expansion that has long fueled tension in the region.
