Five million people have fled Ukraine, says UN

Local civilians walk past a tank destroyed during heavy fighting in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in Mariupol, Ukraine (Alexei Alexandrov/AP)

More than five million people have now fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on February 24, the United Nations’ refugee agency said.

The Geneva-based UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Wednesday put the total number of refugees at 5.01 million.