The first part of this series counted the confirmed dead in Ukraine, which is approximately 19,225 civilian deaths since April 2014. 

In today’s visualization, we investigated those who survived the war by leaving. 

The graphic above shows the estimated number of refugees from Ukraine recorded in Europe and Asia since February 2022 as of January 2026, by selected country.

The data was obtained from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). 

The distribution of 5.35 million people across an entire continent does not align with the map as geography alone would suggest.

It follows policy and specific choices made by specific governments.

TL;DR

• Approximately 5.35 million Ukrainians are registered as refugees across 44 countries in Europe and Asia as of January 2026.
• Germany leads with 1.33 million registered Ukrainian refugees, 35.5% more than Poland’s 979,980, despite Germany being approximately 800 kilometers further from Ukraine’s border

The Germany Question

Poland shares a direct land border with Ukraine. Millions of Ukrainians crossed it in the first weeks of the February 2022 invasion. 

Germany is approximately 800 kilometers farther away, landlocked by multiple countries.

Despite this, Germany hosts 1,330,000 registered Ukrainian refugees. 

The gap (approximately 350,000 more in Germany than in Poland) reflects pull factors that geography cannot produce. 

Germany’s social benefit access, healthcare system, labor market integration infrastructure, and an established Ukrainian community created conditions that drew refugees beyond their first point of entry westward into Europe’s largest economy.

Poland’s registered figure also significantly understates its actual hosting burden. 

Ukrainian arrivals in Poland had the right to remain without formal UNHCR registration under the Polish temporary protection law, meaning millions who passed through or settled were never counted in the UNHCR tracker. 

Moldova’s Disproportionate Load

Moldova sits at 139,160, registering approximately 5.4% of its own 2.6 million population as Ukrainian refugees. 

It is one of Europe’s poorest countries, with a GDP per capita among the lowest on the continent. It is not an EU member state, which means it has no access to the EU’s €17 billion Temporary Protection mechanism that has funded refugee support across the bloc.

Moldova is simultaneously among the most geographically exposed countries in Europe to Russian influence and among the most financially constrained in its capacity to absorb what it is absorbing. 

Ukrainians in Russia 

There’s a caveat with the number of Ukrainian refugees in Russia (6,280). 

The UNHCR acknowledges that the figure requires qualification. 

The circumstances range from pre-war residents who remained, to people displaced through Russian-controlled territory, to the contested category of civilian transfers that the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants in connection with. 

ELI5 (Explain It Like I’m 5)

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, about 5.35 million Ukrainians have fled and are still living in other countries. Germany has the most (1.33 million), even though Poland is much closer to Ukraine. Some of the poorest countries in Europe, like Moldova, are hosting huge numbers of refugees compared to their small size. Even Belarus, which helped Russia attack Ukraine, has registered Ukrainian refugees. This is Part 2 of a 5-part data series on the war.

Source: 

UNHCR, Ukraine Refugee Situation Report