A child is wrapped in a blanket as Ukrainian refugees cross the border into Poland from Ukraine at the border crossing in Medyka, eastern Poland, on March 9, 2022. (AFP File Photo)
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has led to the fastest and largest displacement of people in decades, according to the United Nations' refugee agency (UNHCR).
"Some 14 million people have been forced from their homes since the 24th of February," when Russia's invasion of Ukraine started, UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi told the UN Security Council in New York on Wednesday.
"Ukrainians are about to face one of the world's harshest winters in extremely difficult circumstances," Grandi added, as he called for "an end to this senseless war."
The UNHCR chief said that "the destruction caused by strikes at civilian infrastructure, which happens as we speak, is quickly making the humanitarian response look like a drop in the ocean of needs."
Due to damage to energy infrastructure sustained in the conflict, the Ukrainian government recently asked those who fled abroad not to return until next spring.
According to the UNHCR, more than 7 million people from Ukraine have sought protection abroad - around 1 million of them in Germany.
