UN: More than 1.7 million refugees have left Ukraine; 406 civilian deaths

More than 1.7 million refugees have left Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion late last month, according to the United Nations refugee agency.

As of Sunday, roughly 1,735,000 refugees had fled Ukraine to seek shelter in a number of surrounding countries, according to the U.N.’s operational data portal.

Neighboring Poland has thus far received the most refugees, with more than 1 million individuals relocating to the European nation. Others have traveled to Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova and Romania.

On Sunday, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said the current wave of refugees fleeing Ukraine is the “fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.”

A number of civilians have died amid the conflict in Ukraine. The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights revealed in a statement on Monday that 406 civilians have been killed and 801 others have been injured since the start of the war on Feb. 24.

The U.N. Human Rights office said of the casualty count that the “real figures are considerably higher.” Ukraine’s emergency service has estimated the civilian death toll at more than 2,000. 

Monday marked the twelfth day of Russia’s war on Ukraine, which began last month when President Vladimir Putin ordered a military operation in Ukraine. 

The two nations are scheduled to engage in a third round of talks on Monday, CNN reported, citing state media Russia 24. The previous two discussions did not lead to any major breakthroughs.

Russia told Kyiv Monday that it is ready to quickly halt military operations — if certain lofty demands are met, according to a Kremlin spokesman.

Those demands include a request that Ukraine must stop all military action, change its constitution to reject any intention to enter any bloc such as NATO or the European Union, acknowledge Crimea as Russian territory and recognize the two breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states, Dmitry Peskov said Monday, as reported by Reuters. 

The location for the third round of talks has not been released, according to the network. The previous two discussions took place in Belarus.

Additionally, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba are scheduled to meet at a forum in Turkey on Thursday.