According to the latest UN estimates, more than 8.1 million people have fled Ukraine for European countries after the start of the conflict…reports Asian Lite News
An estimated 7 million Ukrainians have been internally displaced by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported Monday, citing a senior official.
Out of them, about 4.8 million people were officially registered within government agencies as internally displaced persons (IDPs), said Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.
Some 1 million children were forced to leave their homes due to the conflict, but are residing inside Ukraine, Vereshchuk noted.
According to the latest UN estimates, more than 8.1 million people have fled Ukraine for European countries after the start of the conflict.
100 Ukrainian captives released
A total of 100 Ukrainian captives, including 20 women, were released in the latest prisoner swap with Russia, Ukrainian authorities said on Monday.
Among those freed were Ukrainian army soldiers, national guard and navy servicemen, and border guards, said the head of the Ukrainian President’s Office Andriy Yermak.
Some of those released are either wounded or seriously ill, Yermak wrote on Telegram. He gave no details on the number of Russian troops released by Ukraine under the swap deal.
Separately, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said that Ukraine handed over to Russia five severely wounded soldiers in line with Geneva Conventions.
Since March 2022, more than 2,000 Ukrainians have been freed as a result of prisoner exchanges with Russia.
Ukraine aims to set up major European gas storage hub
Ukraine’s Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko has said that his country has prospects to set up a major European gas storage hub on its territory.
“One of our key goals is the creation of a large energy hub in Ukraine, in particular, for the storage of gas by European states,” Galushchenko was quoted as saying by the Energy Ministry’s press service.
Ukraine has one of the largest underground gas storage facilities in Europe, capable of storing more than 30 billion cubic meters of gas, the minister said.
Currently, Ukraine stands ready to offer European partners up to 15 billion cubic meters of its underground gas storage capacities, he noted.
Earlier in the day, Ukrtransgaz, an operator of gas storage facilities in Ukraine, successfully passed certification and confirmed its right to carry out gas storage activities in accordance with the updated rules of the European Union.
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