MOSCOW, October 24. /TASS/. The demographic situation in Ukraine is close to catastrophic, and the reality is much worse than the data provided in UN reports, Russian Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik told TASS.
The UN Geneva Office previously reported that Ukraine’s population has decreased by 8 million people, not 10 million, as stated by Florence Bauer, Regional Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia of the United Nations Population Fund. The UN noted that the demographic situation in Ukraine has deteriorated since 2022 and pointed out that a census would be necessary as soon as the security situation permits in order to efficiently plan for Ukraine's rebuilding. The last census in Ukraine was conducted in 2001, making the acquisition of updated demographic data crucially important, the UN stated.
"The only conclusion that could be considered unequivocally correct is that Ukraine is on the brink of a demographic abyss, while the rest—both the methodology and the conclusions—are extremely controversial and devoid of any further practical meaning," Miroshnik said. "The survey itself is highly questionable: if Kiev has deliberately avoided conducting censuses for over 20 years, what data did the researchers base their survey on? Was the number of people who left Ukraine adjusted based on claims of an influx of population into the liberated Russian regions of Donbass and Novorossiya?"
According to the envoy, the situation will continue to worsen.
"How many residents will remain in the Kiev-controlled territory if Zelensky’s regime can no longer contain the pressure from those wanting to leave the degrading country of bribe-takers and mobilizers? Until international structures gain enough political strength to acknowledge the reality on the ground and eliminate political bias, these kinds of surveys will resemble rigged solutions aimed at pre-agreed outcomes rather than independent research by respected experts," the diplomat concluded.