More than 3 million refugees have left Ukraine after Russia's invasion

More than three million people have fled Ukraine since Russia began its invasion on February 24, the UN Children's Fund (Unicef) said Tuesday.

The Director-General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), António Vitorino, regretted this milestone: "Three million lives uprooted. Three million women, children, and vulnerable people separated from their loved ones."

According to Unicef estimates, of the total number of refugees, 1.5 million children have fled the war. The need for the male population to stay behind to fight has means that mostly women and children are fleeing Ukraine.

"That's 55 children every minute,” agency spokesman James Elder posted on his Twitter account. "Or very close to one child becoming a refugee every single second since war started."

We have now reached a mind-boggling 1.5MILLION children who have been forced to flee #Ukraine. That's around 55 children every minute of this war. Or very close to one child becoming a refugee every single second since war started!! 😔 pic.twitter.com/3mmrnvGnbl

— James Elder (@1james_elder) March 15, 2022

Poland has received the largest number of Ukrainian refugees. In total, 1.79 million people have found refuge in the country since February 24, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Romania has also received more than 422,000 refugees, while Moldova has registered 337,000, Hungary 264,000, and Slovakia 213,000. Russia received 142,994 people, while its ally Belarus took in 1,475 Ukrainians.

In addition, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that there are 1.9 million internally displaced persons—people who have fled their homes in Ukraine at some point in the conflict that began nearly eight years ago but have not left the country.