By taking in millions of Ukrainian war refugees the EU Member States have expressed historically unprecedented solidarity. The unanimous activation of the Directive on ‘Temporary Protection’ in the European Council enabled the unbureaucratic reception of people forced to flee the destruction wreaked by Russian bombs. What had not been possible – or desired – for other groups of refugees in far smaller numbers happened in this case even in Member States previously opposed to a more open European asylum policy and the fair distribution of refugees. On the bitter anniversary of Russia’s illegal war of aggression that commenced on 24 February 2022 we present a first European comparative study of ‘temporary protection’ and shed light on the strengths and weaknesses of the different national systems as regards entry procedures, accommodation options and (labour market) integration.