Real Madrid to donate €1m in aid of Ukraine refugees

Real said the funds would be donated to the Red Cross and other supporting organisations

Karim Benzema wears a T-shirt reading ‘all with Ukraine' (AP)

Real Madrid will donate €1m (£840,000) to help those displaced in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion, the La Liga leaders said on Wednesday.

Real said the funds would be donated to the Red Cross, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and other organisations working on the ground in Ukraine.

The UNHCR said approximately 2.97 million refugees have so far fled Ukraine, roughly per cent of the country’s population, since Russia’s invasion began on 24 February.

The Independent has a proud history of campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable, and we first ran our Refugees Welcome campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and launch this petition in the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we are calling on the government to go further and faster to ensure help is delivered. To find out more about our Refugees Welcome campaign, click here. To sign the petition click here. If you would like to donate then please click here for our GoFundMe page.