the bbc�*sjeremy bowen covered the war in chechnya and the one in syria — he now is covering the war in ukraine. he notes... now, putin's justification for this invasion is that it is to protect ukraine from the west and from nazis, just as grozny and aleppo were, in his eyes, about offering protection too. but as we've seen in all three wars, putin's protection takes this form — with civilians killed and cities made too dangerous to live in. 0k. let's turn to the refugee crisis caused by russia's war on ukraine. according to the un, more than three million people have now fled ukraine since the russian invasion began. by their figures, by far the most have crossed into poland, over 1.7 million. roughly another 1.2 million have fled to other european neighbours to the west. 143,000 have fled into russia. conditions are often harsh. this is the siret border crossing in romania. last night saw tempratures of —2 degrees celsius as women and children continue theirjourney on foot. shelter, food and medical assistance are all required.