A family removes their belongings from their home in Severodonetsk after the official announcement of the evacuation of the city on Thursday in Lugansk Oblast, Ukraine.Photo: Diego Herrera/Europa Press/Getty
Linda Thomas-Greenfield gave a stark warning on the larger humanitarian toll of Russia invading Ukraine during heraddressto the United Nations Security Council emergency meeting on Monday.
The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. said then that the conflict, though still in its early stages, already had dire consequences: Roughly 3 million Ukrainians were in need of “food, shelter and lifesaving assistance.”
She added then that if the conflict continued raging on, it could potentially displace millions and create a crisis that would ripple across the continent.
“If Russia invades Ukraine even further, we will see a devastating loss of life,” Thomas-Greenfield said. “Unimaginable suffering. Millions of displaced people will create a refugee crisis across Europe.”
With the Russian invasion now underway, tens of thousands of people have indeed been displaced, officials say.
“More than 50,000 Ukrainian refugees have fled their country in less than 48 hours — a majority to Poland and Moldova — and many more are moving towards its borders,” the U.N.’s high commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grandi, wrote on Twitter on Friday.
“Heartfelt thanks to the governments and people of countries keeping their borders open and welcoming refugees,” he wrote.
Mariupol, Ukraine, on Thursday.Evgeniy Maloletka/AP/Shutterstock
The IRC has said that Poland and other European nations that border Ukraine would be heavily impacted should a refugee crisis emerge, according toThe New York Times.
“If war breaks out, the consequences for the Ukrainian people — and for Europe — cannot be overstated,” said Lani Fortier, a senior official with the IRC per theTimes.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine began in full force early Thursday. Explosions, airstrikes or troop movements have touchedmultiple cities, including Kharkiv, Kramatorsk and the capital of Kyiv, theAssociated Press reported.
Threats have mounted in particular against Kyiv, a city of 2.8 million, as Ukraine’s central government alternately projects courage and pleads for support.
The Ukrainian death toll has risen to more than 130, officials have said.
YASIN AKGUL/AFP via Getty Images
PresidentJoe Bidenalso announced more aggressive sanctions against Russia on Thursday in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
While announcing the more severe sanctions, Biden calledVladimir Putinan “aggressor,” dismissing the Russian president’s contention that Ukraine is historically Russian and that Russian forces are needed to keep peace there.
“Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war. And now he and his country will bear the consequences,” Biden said.
The economic penalties include export controls that will “impose severe cost on the Russian economy, both immediately and over time,” Biden said.
source: people.com
