Warsaw and its surroundings host 240,000 Ukrainian refugees

About 240,000 refugees from war-torn Ukraine are living in Warsaw and its vicinity, Rafal Trzaskowski, the city's mayor, has said.

On Tuesday, Trzaskowski held a press conference to sum up the three months of refugee aid activity in Poland's capital city.

"About 800,000 Ukrainians have moved through Warsaw, and at the peak of the crisis 300,000 people were living in Warsaw and its vicinity," Trzaskowski said.

He said Ukrainians have been gradually leaving for other places in Poland or going back to their country.

"We're trying to estimate this movement as well as the number of people who are currently living in Warsaw and its environs," Trzaskowski said. "It seems that the number is around 240,000."

Some 170,000 Ukrainian refugees are now living in Warsaw itself, according to the mayor.

About 25,000 are legally employed in Warsaw, according to Monika Fedorczuk, acting head of the local labour office.

More than 17,000 Ukrainian children and youth attend Warsaw creches, kindergartens and schools, Trzaskowski said.

Still, some 40,000 school-aged Ukrainian children are not using the Polish education system and probably remain in the Ukrainian system, according to Trzaskowski's deputy, Renata Kaznowska.