PRZEMYSL, Poland — More than 2.8 million refugees fleeing Russia's war in Ukraine have entered neighboring countries since the invasion began 19 days ago.
The pace of the exodus has slowed in recent days, but tens of thousands of people continued to arrive Monday in countries like Poland, Hungary and Romania.
Some of the refugees reported seeing Russian troops targeting civilians in Ukraine.
An attack Sunday on a Ukrainian military base near the border with Poland has led to fears in the West that the fight was edging closer to the European Union and members of the NATO military alliance.
One Ukrainian refugee arriving in Poland begged NATO to intervene, saying, "close the sky, everything else we will do ourselves."
With more people fleeing Ukraine, European countries that had previously been reluctant to share the burden for refugees have found themselves seeking solidarity and burden-sharing, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said Friday.
"European countries, including countries that have been rather hesitant in the past to any notion that you should share that responsibility, now find themselves … in the situation to hold hundreds of thousands," Grandi said. "And what do they do? They ask for that international solidarity and sharing, which means financial assistance."
In a meeting with the Polish Prime Minister last week, Vice President Kamala Harris pledged that the U.S. would also offer assistance.
"We should all be prepared to take on to support those people who are fleeing their home when they don't want to leave," Harris said Thursday.
