Lubinets: Ukrainians are returning to the occupied territories, the number of displaced persons is decreasing

The number of internally displaced persons is decreasing in Ukraine. Photo: Facebook of Dmytro Lubinets

In Ukraine, the number of internally displaced persons is decreasing, because people are returning to the occupied territories due to financial difficulties.

This was reported by Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets at the «(Dis)connected: Rethinking social stability in Ukraine» summit.

He noted that he informed the Cabinet about this problem.

«As of now, the situation is getting worse — we have a decreasing number of IDPs, because they are returning to the TOT of Ukraine and the front-line cities due to socio-economic difficulties in a new place! This is a serious concern. I raised this issue at the Government level. The state should directly say what kind of financial assistance a person can count on, so that he has confidence in his future,» said Dmytro Lubinets.

We will remind that out of more than 126,000 internally displaced persons living in Mykolaiv region, only 33,000 citizens will continue to receive payments in 2024.

It was also reported that in July of this year, the Verkhovna Rada adopted in the first reading draft law №11028 on the priority right of some categories of internally displaced persons to receive compensation for destroyed housing.

How did the population level change in Mykolaiv?

As you know, since the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine, about 45% of the townspeople have left Mykolaiv.

The statistics began to change positively only after the pre-occupation of the right bank of the Kherson region. And already in September 2023, about 350-360 thousand people lived in Mykolaiv. This was the same indicator compared to May of the same year. At the same time, 56,000 of that number are internally displaced persons.

At the same time, in May, the head of Mykolaiv Oblast Vitalii Kim reported that about 80% of the pre-war population lives in Mykolaiv region, but there are far fewer jobs.

It was also reported that the population of Ukraine has decreased by 10 million people since the start of the full-scale war. This happened due to mass migration, a decrease in the birth rate and the death of Ukrainians in the war.