BUDAPEST

Over 120,000 people fleeing Ukraine have taken shelter in Hungary since the war began last week between Kyiv and Moscow, according to a senior government official.

Gergely Gulyas, the chief of staff to Prime Minister Viktor Orban, said on Thursday that the Hungary-Ukraine border gates were open and that crossings continued.

Stating that the number of Ukrainians who have arrived in the country since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war has surpassed 120,000, Gulyas said Budapest does not want to be involved in the war and would not allow weapons to pass through the border to Ukraine.

He said the government was doing everything in its power to ensure the safety of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine.

Earlier, the Hungarian Foreigners' Office reported that 676 Ukrainians had applied for asylum, so far.

Russia's war on Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, has been met with international outrage, with the European Union, US, and UK, among others, implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.

More than a million people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

*Writing by Seda Sevencan in Istanbul