The majority of Ukrainian refugees want to return home as soon as possible, but also think that a return is not yet possible for the time being. In a survey by the UN refugee agency UNHCR, two thirds of the refugees expect that the situation in Ukraine will not be safe enough in the coming months.
Only 16 percent of those surveyed plan to return home within two months. Most of them come from the west of the country or from the areas around Kiev. There is still heavy fighting between the Ukrainian and Russian army, especially in the east. The people who haven’t returned yet wait for the situation to improve or for the fighting to stop altogether.
According to UNHCR, there are currently 5.6 million Ukrainian refugees in shelters across Europe. The refugee organization has also registered 3.3 million people who have just crossed the border into Ukraine since the start of the war. In that count, both people who went back permanently and who went back temporarily were included. Most of the refugees are women and children, because men between the ages of 18 and 60 can be drafted into the army and must therefore remain in Ukraine.