The UN Refugee Agency has predicted that 4 million people may flee Ukraine to other countries “if the situation escalates further”, Reuters reports.
United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, which has projected 5 million refugees, said it is strengthening its capacity to help Ukrainian refugees in Moldova, Romania and Poland as a “first call”, and “obviously Hungary and Slovenia as well”.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights denounced the arrests of some 1,800 anti-war protesters in Russia and called for the release of those unlawfully held for voicing opinions.
Meanwhile, the authorities in Kyiv have told citizens to stay home to avoid “active military operations” in the Obolon district, just north of the city centre.
UNICEF’s regional director has said the agency is still trying to see which civilian infrastructure has been hit and where.
