Ukrainian refugees in Europe: three years on and a life in limbo

Marking three years since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, A European Perspective (AEP) publishes a collaborative news story, highlighting the situation faced by Ukrainian refugees across the continent – many of whom struggle with severe financial hardship. 

With contributions from 15 newsrooms, AEP’s network of journalists has explored the impact of waning international support on the 5+ million* Ukrainians who have fled to European countries. As public attention and humanitarian funding decline, many are faced with an impossible choice: return to a war-torn country, or attempt to rebuild their life abroad, navigating shifting protection measures**, unfamiliar job markets, and waning public sympathy. This is the second in a series of collaborative reports from A European Perspective and has been published, so far, by: 

BR (Germany) 

CT (Czechia) 

ERR (Estonia)

ERT (Greece)

Franceinfo (France)

LSM (Latvia) 

LRT (Lithuania) 

RTBF (Belgium) 

RTVE (Spain)

Suspilne (Ukraine) 

Swedish Radio (Sweden) in Swedish, English, Ukrainian and Somali.

Swissinfo (Switzerland) 

* According to the latest data by the UNHCR collected by RTVE for A European Perspective, 5.08 million Ukrainians have fled to European countries.  

** Protection measures are systems that guarantee beneficiaries the right to residence, access to the labour market and public services.

Original illustration by Ann-Sophie De Steur