UNHCR, the UN‘s refugee agency, recorded 2,504,893 refugees on its dedicated website — 188,891 more than the previous count on Thursday.
The UN’s International Organization for Migration said 116,000 third-country nationals were among those fleeing Ukraine.
Authorities and the UN expect the numbers to increase as the Russian army advances deeper into Ukraine, particularly as it approaches the capital, Kyiv.
Besides those who have left, the UN estimates that at least 1.85 million people have been internally displaced within Ukraine.
Before Russia invaded, more than 37 million people lived in Ukrainian territory under the control of the central government.
Here is a breakdown of where refugees from Ukraine are, according to the UN Refugee Agency:
– Poland – Six in 10 of those who have fled Ukraine are now in Poland, with the UNHCR saying 1,524,903 refugees are now in the country, a figure up 112,400 since Thursday.
Poland has championed the cause of Ukrainian refugees. The government has set up reception centres and charities have mobilised in a massive aid effort, helped by the estimated 1.5 million Ukrainians already living in the EU member state.
“We really have to praise the Poles here because they are looking at a massive urban refugee response,” UNHCR spokesman Matthew Saltmarsh told reporters in Geneva, via video-link from near Poland’s border with Ukraine.
He said Poland was opening up access to education, work and accommodation, while people at the border and train stations were handing out water, setting up information points and volunteering to take refugees into their homes.
– Elsewhere in Europe – Some 282,497 people who have fled Ukraine have now moved beyond neighbouring states to other European countries, according to the UNHCR.
– Hungary – Some 225,046 refugees are now in Hungary — nine percent of the total who have fled Ukraine.
The country has five border crossings with Ukraine, and several border towns, including Zahony, have turned public buildings into relief centres, where Hungarian civilians are offering food or assistance.
– Slovakia – Across Ukraine’s shortest border, some 176,092 refugees are now in Slovakia.
– Russia – The UNHCR says the number of refugees who have crossed Ukraine’s longest border into Russia since the invasion has reached 105,897.
An additional 96,000 people moved to Russia from the separatist eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions between February 18 and 23, in the days before the Russian invasion, according to the UN refugee agency.
– Moldova – Some 104,929 refugees are now in Moldova, though many thousands more have passed through the non-EU state on their way to other countries.
The country’s authorities said 278,267 refugees have crossed the border, which is the closest to the major port city of Odessa.
– Romania – Some 84,671 refugees from Ukraine are now in Romania, according to the latest UNHCR figures updated to the end of Tuesday.
Two camps have been set up, one in Sighetu Marmatiei and the other in Siret.
Bucharest said that 364,518 refugees have entered the country, the majority of which have pressed on to other states. Some 21,000 entered on Thursday, of which 8,000 came directly from Ukraine. Many pass through the safety of Moldova before reaching Romania.
– Belarus – Some 858 refugees have made it to Belarus, according to UNHCR.