Dmytro Lubinets, chairperson of Ukraine's Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights, said on Dec. 14 that nearly 8 million Ukrainians, which make up about 20 percent of Ukraine’s pre-war population, had fled the country since February.
Speaking at a news conference, Lubinets said that an additional 4.9 million people have had to relocate domestically due to Russia’s brutal war. He added that a third of the IDPs were pensioners or individuals with disabilities.
Despite the surging number of refugees due to a lack of utilities amid winter, Lubinets estimated that 13 million people still live in either Russian-occupied territories or areas where heavy fighting continues.
While Ukrainian troops have recaptured more than half of the territories that Russia occupied since the February invasion, Russia still controls large swathes of territory in four regions. Authorities have not been able to deliver humanitarian assistance to the occupied territories despite heightneing concerns over the current humanitarian situation on the ground.
