80% of people seeking protection in Germany last year from Ukraine

BERLIN (Reuters) - Roughly eight out of 10 people seeking protection in Germany last year came from Ukraine as part of the largest flight of people in Europe since World War Two, the interior ministry said on Wednesday.

After Russia's invasion in mid-February, 1,045,185 people who fled Ukraine were registered in Germany, it said, adding that most of them were women and children.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's "criminal war of aggression against Ukraine has triggered the largest flight movement in Europe since World War Two," said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser in a statement.

In addition to the Ukrainian refugees, who do not need to go through an asylum procedure, over 244,000 people filed an asylum application last year, 27.9% more than the year before.

The majority of asylum applications came from people from Syria, followed by nationals of Afghanistan, Turkey and Iraq.

"In other parts of the world, people are also fleeing war and terror, which is reflected in the significant increase in the number of asylum applications filed in 2022," said Faeser.

(Reporting by Alexander Ratz; Writing by Miranda Murray; Editing by Rachel More)