United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesman Adrian Edwards speaking at a news conference at the United Nations in Geneva about Ukraine internally displaced people:
"Ukraine's Ministry of Social Policy now puts the total number of registered IDPs country-wide at 980,000, the figure is likely to rise as more newly displaced people are still in the process of being registered. In addition, some 600,000 Ukrainians have sought asylum or other forms of legal stay in neighboring countries, particularly the Russian Federation, also in Belarus, Moldova, Poland, Hungary, and Romania, since February of last year."
"So far, more than 2,800 civilians, including about 700 children, 60 disabled people have been evacuated from Debaltseve, Avdiyivka, and Svitlodar, which have seen fierce combat, several incidents of shelling of buses carrying evacuees have been reported. Local authorities also confirm that evacuation transportation could not reach Avdiyivka on Tuesday because of the fighting."
"The hardships are intense as I have described, people are trapped in basements, they are without proper access, the civilian infrastructure is being destroyed, there is risks to people trying to get out of these areas, it's an immensely tragic situation, now with astonishingly large numbers of people affected."
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