MOSCOW, September 03. /ITAR-TASS/. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) confirms that there is no military solution to the conflict in south-eastern Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
UNCHR provides data on the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Ukraine. “The UNCHR calls for immediately ceasing fire and launching a nationwide dialogue,” the ministry said. “Russia shares concerns by UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres,” the ministry noted.
Guterres said on September 2, “If the crisis is not quickly stopped, it will have not only devastating humanitarian consequences but it also has the potential to destabilize the whole region.”
An official of the UNHCR said a larger number of Ukrainians were arriving in Russia under the visa-free regime. The Russian authorities say around 814,000 Ukrainians had entered Russia since the start of the year. This figure includes people who have applied for refugee/temporary asylum and other residence options.
Vincent Cochetel, director of UNHCR’s Europe Bureau, told journalists in Geneva that the number of people displaced inside Ukraine had more than doubled over the past four week. UNHCR estimates that 260,000 people were displaced as of September 1, compared to 117,000 in the first week of August.