British Prime Minister Boris Johnson greets British Ambassador to Estonia, Ross Allen, and a member of the military as he arrives at Tallinn Airport, in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 1.POOL/Getty Images
Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned on Tuesday about the growing humanitarian crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying refugee numbers could reach millions, with possibly more than 200,000 coming to Britain to join family members.
Less than a week after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, western leaders are looking at ways to help the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who have left their homeland.
Poland has estimated that about 350,000 people have crossed its border from Ukraine since last Thursday, while the European Union has emphasised the need to prepare for millions of refugees entering the bloc.
“We will make it easier for Ukrainians already living in the UK to bring their relatives to our country. Though the numbers are hard to calculate, there could be more than 200,000,” Johnson said during a visit to Warsaw.
“(Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s invasion has already cost hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes, and we must prepare for an even larger outflow, perhaps in the millions.”
Britain has 1,000 troops on standby to help the humanitarian response in Ukraine’s neighbours, including Poland, Johnson said as he pledged up to 220 million pounds ($294.69 million) in emergency and humanitarian aid for Ukraine.
Ilona Koval, from Odessa, weeps as she traveled together with some of the girls she trained as figure skaters, at a temporary refugee camp on the Ukrainian border in Palanca, Moldova.LAETITIA VANCON/The New York Times News Service
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People arrive at a train station in Budapest from Zahony after crossing the border as they flee Ukraine.Janos Kummer/Getty Images
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A Ukrainian mother and her child leave a tent installed by the Romanian Emergency Service at the Siret border point with Ukraine.DANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP/Getty Images
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A civilian trains to throw Molotov cocktails to defend the city, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Zhytomyr, Ukraine.VIACHESLAV RATYNSKYI/Reuters
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Smoke rises from a building after a blast, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Kyiv.CARLOS BARRIA/Reuters
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Martin Mpofu, center, a student from Zimbabwe in weak health, is helped by his brother Maneedi, right, and Hatim Redouani, from Morocco, as they cross from Ukraine into in Medyka, Poland.MAURICIO LIMA/The New York Times News Service
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Local citizens of Chernihiv hide in the shelter of Chernihiv Central Hospital after airstrike alert is announced.Sergey Zosimenko via Anton Skyba/Sergey Zosimenko via Anton Skyba
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Pro-Russian separatists are seen next to an abandoned tank on a road between the separatist-controlled settlements in the Donetsk region, Ukraine.ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO/Reuters
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Armed men rest on a check-point in the city of Brovary outside Kyiv.GENYA SAVILOV/AFP/Getty Images
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The view of military facility which was destroyed by recent shelling in the city of Brovary outside Kyiv.GENYA SAVILOV/AFP/Getty Images
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A man walks past a board with a message reading "Putin is lost. The entire world is with Ukraine!" set in Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty Images
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Women carry their belongings as they walk in a deserted street of Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty Images
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The view of military facility which was destroyed by recent shelling in the city of Brovary outside Kyiv.GENYA SAVILOV/AFP/Getty Images
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Independence Square in Kyiv shows the Independence monument behind sand prepared to make a protective barrier.SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty Images
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People are placing sandbags next to the local cultural center building to protect it in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine.yulyadahl/Getty Images
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Clothes brought by volunteers are seen inside a lyceum building in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine.yulyadahl/Getty Images
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People take part in a basic military training in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine.yulyadahl/Getty Images
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Molotov cocktails are seen on the street in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine.yulyadahl/Getty Images
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A view of the square outside the damaged local city hall in Kharkiv, Ukraine.SERGEY BOBOK/AFP/Getty Images
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Ukrainian service members stand guard outside the regional administration building, which city officials said was hit by a missile attack, in central Kharkiv, Ukraine.VYACHESLAV MADIYEVSKYY/Reuters
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An armed man is seen inside the damaged local city hall of Kharkiv, Ukraine.SERGEY BOBOK/AFP/Getty Images
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A view shows an ammunition case in a street in Kharkiv, Ukraine.VYACHESLAV MADIYEVSKYY/Reuters
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A view of the damaged headquarters of the Kharkiv administration hit by shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine.SERGEY BOBOK/AFP/Getty Images
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Combination picture shows a monitor displaying a projectile striking the regional state administration building, as the Russian invasion continues, in Kharkiv, Ukraine.STATE EMERGENCY SERVICES OF UKRAINE/Reuters
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Emergencies personnel work in the damaged local city hall of Kharkiv, Ukraine.SERGEY BOBOK/AFP/Getty Images
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View of a school destroyed as a result of fight not far from the center of Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, located some 50 km from Ukrainian-Russian border.SERGEY BOBOK/AFP/Getty Images
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A school destroyed as a result of fight not far from the centre of Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.SERGEY BOBOK/AFP/Getty Images
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Members of an Ukrainian civil defence unit pass new assault rifles to the opposite side of a blown up bridge on Kyiv's northern front.ARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images
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Rescuers remove debris in the regional administration building, which city officials said was hit by a missile attack, in central Kharkiv, Ukraine.VYACHESLAV MADIYEVSKYY/Reuters
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People who have fled Russia's invasion of Ukraine wait at the Shehyni border crossing to enter Poland, near Mostyska, Ukraine.THOMAS PETER/Reuters
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Volunteers pack donated goods at Avus city highway parking lot to be loaded onto Ukrainian trucks as the first humanitarian aid transport to Ukraine organized by a local residents' initiative in Berlin, Germany.FABRIZIO BENSCH/Reuters
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German singer and actress Yvonne Catterfeld unloads the goods from a car at Avus city highway parking lot to be loaded onto Ukrainian trucks as the first humanitarian aid transport to Ukraine organized by a local residents' initiative in Berlin, Germany.FABRIZIO BENSCH/Reuters
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Pro-Ukraine demonstrators protest against Russia outside the venue of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.JOSEP LAGO/AFP/Getty Images
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Ukrainians living in Greece and supporting people collect household necessities to be sent to Ukraine, at the Vlatadon monastery in Thessaloniki.SAKIS MITROLIDIS/AFP/Getty Images
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People wait in line to buy food in front of a supermarket beside a damaged building in Kyiv.DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP/Getty Images
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Volunteers make camouflage nets for the Ukrainian military at a library in western Ukrainian city of Lviv.YURIY DYACHYSHYN/AFP/Getty Images
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A Ukrainian woman holds her mother's hand as they cross the train tracks after arriving at the railway station in the Hungarian-Ukrainian border town of Zahony.ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP/Getty Images
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A child looks out of a bus window after fleeing from Ukraine because of the Russian invasion as they arrive with a bus at the village of Moszcany near the border checkpoint at Korczowa, Poland.KAI PFAFFENBACH/Reuters
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People react as the European Parliament President Roberta Metsola addresses a special session to debate its response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in Brussels, Belgium.YVES HERMAN/Reuters
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European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell as he delivers a remote speech, during the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council at the European headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.SALVATORE DI NOLFI/AFP/Getty Images
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Kosovo artist Alkent Pozhegu works on the final touches of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's portrait made with grain and seed, in Gjakova, Kosovo.ARMEND NIMANI/AFP/Getty Images
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NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Polish President Andrzej Duda chat with military personnel during their visit at Lask Air Base, Poland.Marcin Stepien/AGENCJA WYBORCZA/Reuters
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An armed man stands at a road block in downtown Kyiv.ARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images
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Civilians cross a river on a blown up bridge on Kyiv's northern front.ARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images
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An Ukrainian soldier guards a blown up bridge on Kyiv's northern front.ARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appears on a screen as he speaks in a video conference during a special plenary session of the European Parliament focused on the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the EU headquarters in Brussels.JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images
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Interior minister Priti Patel told parliament the reunion criteria for Ukrainians would be widened to allow people living in Britain to bring parents, siblings, adult sons and daughters and grandparents to join them.
Visas for Ukrainian temporary workers in some sectors will be extended to allow them to remain in Britain until at least the end of this year, Patel added, and the government will also set up a humanitarian sponsorship route for Ukrainians who do not have family ties with Britain.
Patel said the usual language requirements and salary threshold for people coming to Britain to join their family would be lifted, and Ukrainians would be allowed to work and access public services.
“We will give them permission to enter the UK outside the usual rules for 12 months,” she said. “There is no limit on the numbers eligible under this route.”
At least 10 people were killed and 35 wounded in rocket strikes by Russian forces on Kharkiv, Ukraine, according to an Interior Ministry official. Officials say that Russian missile attacks hit the centre of the city, including residential areas and the city administration building.
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