Russia-Ukraine war: second Mariupol ceasefire attempt for evacuations – live

More than 1.5m refugees have fled Ukraine in the past 10 days in the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since the second world war, the United Nations has said.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, tweeted: “More than 1.5 million refugees from Ukraine have crossed into neighbouring countries in 10 days – the fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.”

Record numbers of refugees headed into Poland from Ukraine with the total number expected to surpass one million people later on Sunday.

Fresh data shows Polish border guards cleared as many as 129,000 people at border crossings on Saturday, the most in a single day since the war started, bringing the total to 922,400.

At the Medyka crossing, the busiest along Poland’s roughly 500km (310 mile) border with Ukraine, refugees streamed past boxes of clothes laid out along a path from the border crossing while Scouts handed out hot tea, food and toiletries.

Some carried babies, others dogs and cats wrapped in blankets. Many joined a queue for buses to the nearby town Przemysl where friends, relatives and volunteers waited to take them to other cities in Poland and beyond.

Poland’s Ukrainian community of around 1.5m is the region’s largest and makes the country a major destination point for refugees, though fleeing Ukrainians also cross to safety through Slovakia, Hungary and northern Romania.

Officials said many of the refugees who have arrived so far had friends and places to go to but the head of the UN refugee agency told Reuters a growing tide of refugees would put pressure on governments to absorb them.

“Frankly these governments have done very well in their initial response,” Grandi said. “They were well prepared. But if the numbers continue to grow it will be a problem.”

Romania has taken in 227,446 Ukrainians, including 31,628 who arrived on Saturday, border police data showed. More than 163,000 entered Hungary since 24 February.