A Knock on the Door. A Air raid siren. A message on a phone: “The bridge is gone.” For millions of Ukrainians, these are not scenes from a two-year-old newsreel; they are the relentless, daily catalysts of an impossible decision—to stay or to go.
When Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, the world witnessed the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II. Images of mostly women and children crowding train stations in Lviv and border crossings in Poland defined those first brutal months. The world responded with an outpouring of support, opening homes and hearts.
But a common, and dangerous, assumption has since taken hold: that the emergency phase is over, that the borders have stabilized, and that the flood of refugees has ceased. The reality, however, is far more complex and heartbreaking. The exodus from Ukraine has not ended; it has transformed into a slow, steady, and deeply personal trickle, dictated not by initial panic, but by the grim, protracted realities of a war with no end in sight.
So, yes, people are still fleeing Ukraine. Every single day. Their stories are just no longer always on the front page.
From Flood to Flow: The Changing Nature of Flight
The initial wave of refugees was defined by sheer volume and urgency. Over six million people left Ukraine in the first three months alone. They were fleeing imminent danger, often with no plan beyond getting across the border. This was a survival instinct on a national scale.
Today, the movement of people is different. It is less about the initial shock and more about the unbearable accumulation of pressure. The reasons for leaving now are layered and chronic:
- The Relentless Assault on Civilian Infrastructure: The war is no longer just fought on frontlines. It is fought in apartment blocks, supermarkets, and power plants. A sustained campaign against energy infrastructure means millions face winter without consistent heat, light, or water. For families with young children, the elderly, or the infirm, surviving a freezing winter without electricity is a calculated risk many are no longer willing to take.
- The Erosion of the Economy: Even in areas far from the fighting, the economy is shattered. Businesses have closed, jobs have evaporated, and pensions are stretched to breaking point. The constant psychological strain of financial precarity, coupled with the physical danger, becomes an untenable way of life. Parents leave not because a bomb is falling on their house today, but because they can no longer provide a future for their children.
- The Collapse of Public Services: Healthcare and education systems, once a point of pride for Ukraine, are under immense strain. Schools are damaged or repurposed as shelters. Access to specialized medical care, especially for chronic conditions or complex procedures like cancer treatment, has become incredibly difficult. For some, leaving is a medical necessity.
- The Invisible Wounds: The psychological toll is a powerful driver. The constant anxiety of air raid sirens, the trauma of losing loved ones, and the pervasive grief for a lost way of life have profound mental health consequences. For many, the only path to healing is to find a place of temporary safety where the air is not filled with the sound of war.
This is not a second wave; it is a continuous outflow. It’s a family from Kharkiv deciding enough is enough after the tenth time sheltering in a metro station. It’s a widow from a village in Donetsk whose home was destroyed and has nowhere left to go. It’s a software developer from Kyiv who can work remotely but can no longer focus through the sleepless nights of explosions.
The Profile of a Refugee in 2024
The face of today’s refugee is also evolving. While women and children still make up the vast majority of those fleeing (as men of fighting age are generally required to remain), their profiles have shifted.
- The “Laterals”: These are refugees who initially were internally displaced, moving from the east to the relative safety of western Ukraine like Lviv or Uzhhorod. After months or even years, they have exhausted their resources and the “safety” of western cities has proven relative, with regular air raid alerts and strikes. Their journey to the EU border is often the second or third leg of a long, painful migration.
- The Exhausted: Many of those leaving now held out for as long as humanly possible. They are the resilient, the stubborn, the hopeful who believed the war would be shorter. They are teachers, farmers, and entrepreneurs who clung to their normal lives until the cumulative weight of trauma, fear, and hardship became too heavy to bear. Their departure is often accompanied by a deep sense of guilt and loss.
- The Re-traumatized: Some are refugees for a second time. There are heartbreaking accounts of individuals who fled to Ukraine in 2014 from Crimea and Donbas, only to be forced to flee again in 2022. Their resilience has been tested beyond its limits.
The Challenging Journey and an Uncertain Welcome
The path to safety is now more arduous. With many direct flight routes suspended, land routes through Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Moldova remain the primary exits. The journey is long, expensive, and fraught with bureaucratic hurdles.
Furthermore, “refugee fatigue” is a real and growing concern in host nations. The initial wave of solidarity, while still present, is being tested by economic pressures in European countries, housing crises, and the sheer length of the displacement. Governments are wrestling with how to integrate hundreds of thousands of newcomers into school systems, job markets, and communities for the long term, a challenge that requires sustained political will and resources.
The legal status of Ukrainian refugees is also in a state of flux. The EU’s Temporary Protection Directive, which grants Ukrainians the right to reside, work, and access healthcare and social benefits in member states, has been extended until March 2025. This provides crucial stability, but the ticking clock also creates underlying anxiety about what happens next. Can they go home? Will they be forced to return to a country still at war? Or will they need to apply for more permanent asylum, a complex and uncertain process?
The Other Side of the Story: The Pull to Return
To only focus on those leaving is to tell half the story. Simultaneously, Ukraine is witnessing a significant number of returns. The UN estimates that over 4.5 million refugees have returned to Ukraine, either permanently or temporarily.
These returns are driven by a powerful, deep-seated connection to homeland, but they are not always a sign of safety or stability. People return for many reasons:
- Family Reunification: To be with husbands, fathers, and sons who remained.
- Economic Necessity: Their savings have run out in their host country, and returning, despite the danger, is the only option.
- A Sense of Duty: A powerful desire to contribute to Ukraine’s survival and eventual rebuilding, to be part of the resistance in a tangible way.
- Simple Homesickness: The inability to adapt to a foreign culture and the aching longing for home.
Crucially, many of these returns are not to safe areas but to war-torn regions. They represent a desperate choice between the safety of exile and the powerful pull of home, even if home is a shell of its former self.
A Protracted Crisis Demands a Sustained Response
The situation is no longer an emergency; it is a protracted crisis. This requires a shift in the international response from short-term humanitarian aid to long-term integration support and future-focused planning.
- Sustained Financial and Legal Support: Host countries need continued financial assistance to maintain education, healthcare, and housing programs for refugees. Clarity on long-term legal status beyond 2025 is crucial to allow people to plan their lives.
- Targeted Mental Health Support: The trauma of this war will last for generations. Investing in psychological support, both for refugees abroad and those who have returned, is not a luxury; it is a necessity for the future health of the nation.
- Supporting the Hosts: Acknowledging and aiding the communities that have opened their doors is essential to maintain social cohesion and prevent resentment.
- Planning for the Future: The conversation must begin now about the eventual, voluntary, and safe return of refugees and the monumental task of rebuilding. This includes ensuring that those who wish to return have a home, a school, and a job to come back to.
Conclusion: A Story Without an End
The question “Are there still refugees fleeing Ukraine?” is answered not with a simple yes, but with a somber acknowledgment of a prolonged human tragedy. The decision to flee is now a quiet, constant calculation happening in kitchens and bomb shelters across the country.
The story of Ukraine’s refugees has moved from the dramatic headline to the painful, enduring reality. They are a testament to the unyielding human spirit in the face of unimaginable adversity, but they are also a stark reminder that for as long as the bombs fall and the lights stay off, the exodus will continue. The world’s attention may have wavered, but their journey has not. Our responsibility to see them, support them, and remember them remains.