Five days after Russia launched a "special military operation" against Ukraine, more than 500,000 people have fled across the borders, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, reported on Monday.

Ukrainians, mostly women and children, have been escaping to Poland, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia and beyond.

UN humanitarian agencies are on the ground and ready to increase support in what is a fast-growing refugee emergency.

UNHCR spokesperson Shabia Mantoo spoke to UN News’s Daniel Johnson, and told him that people arriving are exhausted by the “grueling journey to safety”.