Alexis Guilleux, edited by Laura Laplaud 09:49, March 01, 2022

UN diplomats met Monday in New York for an extraordinary General Assembly where member states were able to position themselves vis-à-vis the Russian war in Ukraine.

The UN Secretary General to call for an immediate cessation of fighting.

In five days, 500,000 Ukrainians left the country.

The Russian military convoy extends over more than 60 kilometers, according to satellite images released on Monday.

Two options now: stay and fight or flee.

Half a million Ukrainians left the country in five days.

A massive exodus that worries the United Nations.

The UN Security Council heard from humanitarian agencies who are overwhelmed by the scale of the phenomenon.

A historic exodus

"We are failing to meet the needs of the Ukrainian people," admitted Filippo Grandi, director of the High Commissioner for Refugees.

In four days, 520,000 people left Ukraine for neighboring countries.

"The number has increased exponentially since Thursday. I have rarely seen an exodus increase so quickly. It is certainly the largest in Europe since the Balkan wars," he said.

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This war could lead 4 million Ukrainians to seek refuge abroad, estimates the UN.

It is therefore necessary to secure the humanitarian corridors, which the fighting does not currently allow.

For the French ambassador, Nicolas de Rivière, Moscow is responsible for this situation.

"Russia is trampling on international humanitarian law and flouting human rights. It is trampling on the Geneva Conventions. The protection of civilians is an absolute priority. France will not compromise on this," he said.

For Russia, Ukraine "uses" its population as a "human shield"

"Ukraine is holding its own people hostage," replied the Russian ambassador.

"She uses the Ukrainians as human shields."

Echoing Moscow's rhetoric, he stressed that Russia did not start the war, but rather is trying to end it.

At the same time in New York, this extraordinary general assembly of the United Nations was held, a rare event where each of the 193 members of the UN can give their opinion on this war.

"What madness! If he wants to commit suicide, he doesn't need to use nuclear weapons," said Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukrainian ambassador to the United Nations.

"He just has to do what the guy, Hitler, did in his bunker in Berlin in May 1945."