UNITED NATIONS, January 14. /TASS/. The United Nations and its partner organizations have provided humanitarian assistance to 14 million people, who need it due to the conflict in Ukraine, including one million people living in the territories that joined Russia last year, UN under-secretary-general has said.

"In all, since 24 February of last year almost 14 million people have received assistance from over 740 partners. This includes 1 million people in areas not under the control of the Government of Ukraine," Under-Secretary-General Rosemary Dicarlo said in her remarks to the Security Council session on Ukraine.

She called upon parties to the conflict to provide humanitarian access to all people in need.

From September 23 to September 27, 2022, the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) as well as the Kherson Region and the Zaporozhye Region held a referendum where the majority of voters opted to join Russia. In all, over 571,000 people voted which amounts to 76.86% of local voters.

On September 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the heads of the DPR and the LPR, the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions signed treaties on their accession to Russia. On October 4, Putin signed laws on ratification of treaties on accession of the DPR and the LPR, the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions to Russia.