GENEVA: One week into the ongoing Russian invasion, around one million Ukrainian citizens have fled the country to save their lives, said the United Nations (UN). According to the data by the UN refugee agency UNHCR, this accounts for about two percent of Ukraine’s population. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi had tweeted the news in his official account. The UNHCR had earlier predicted that more than four million Ukrainians would leave the country following the invasion.

According to the UN estimates, Syria, where civil war erupted in 2011, remains the country with the largest influx of refugees. There are more than 5.6 million refugees in Syria. However, UNHCR figures suggest that the number of refugees in Syria had exceeded one million only after three months into the war. "At this rate the outflows from Ukraine could become the biggest refugee crisis this century”, UNHCR spokesperson Shabia Mantoo said on Wednesday.

In just seven days we have witnessed the exodus of one million refugees from Ukraine to neighbouring countries.

For many millions more, inside Ukraine, it’s time for guns to fall silent, so that life-saving humanitarian assistance can be provided.

— Filippo Grandi (@FilippoGrandi) March 2, 2022

Currently, Russian invasion in Ukraine is continuing for the eighth day in a row. As per the US warning, Russia is targeting more populated areas of the country. The second round of Russia-Ukraine peace talks will take place at the Belarus-Poland border, on Thursday. The resolution, calling on Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine, was passed with a large majority in the UN General Assembly, the previous day. India had abstained from the voting.