MOSCOW, August 8 (RIA Novosti) - More than 117,000 people are now displaced inside Ukraine, according to the latest United Nations agency for refugees (UNHCR) study, while about 730,000 Ukrainians have fled to Russia amid growing violence since the beginning of this year.
"In the past seven days more than 6,200 people have been forced from their homes," said Vincent Cochetel, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The Human Right Watch representatives are urging Kiev leadership to provide protection to thousands of displaced Ukrainians. "In early July the Human Rights Watch researcher visited eight temporary living facilities for displaced people, both privately-owned and state-owned, in Kiev, Vinnytsya, Lviv, and Kharkiv regions," stated the official letter by HRW to Petro Poroshenko on July, 21, 2014, "All displaced people said they received little to no help from the government when they were fleeing from armed conflict areas or when they have sought to secure housing, food, clothing, and other essential items, as well as access to social services."
In East Ukraine the number of displaced has grown tremendously in the last two months, rising from 2,600 to 102,600 refugees. Unfortunately, these civilians have not received any assistance from the Ukrainian government. Fleeing from the regions shelled intensively by Ukrainian military forces, eastern Ukrainian refugees constitute up to 87 per cent of the total displaced population in Ukraine, according to UNHCR.
Meanwhile, Russia's Federal Migration Service reports of 168,677 displaced Ukrainians which have already applied for refugee status, temporary asylum, or citizenship in Russia. Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry provides the refugees with temporary accommodation in hostels, hotels and summer camps. "The aid is being sent from Moscow, St Petersburg, Volgograd, Chelyabinsk, in fact from all over Russia," said Alexei Boiko, a Russian politician, in an interview with the BBC. "There are clothes, medicines and food. The scale of the problem is colossal."
Remarkably, Russia, groundlessly accused by the western media of being "an aggressor" and a "threat to Ukraine," has become the only shelter for the desperate Ukrainian population, abandoned by its own government. It should be noted that the Ukrainian military servicemen have also got assistance from the Russian border guards. Earlier this week, RT has reported of 438 Ukrainian soldiers and officers, who crossed into Russia, forced to retreat from their positions on Ukraine territory by militia. "The Ukrainian population is destroying itself for no clear reason. On both sides, we’re the same people," said Anton Shingera, a Ukrainian officer, quoted by RT, and added bitterly: "Now, what can I say about going back? I don’t know, but I certainly don’t want to. No matter how much money they’ll pay me."
Escalating the internal conflict the Ukrainian government does not care much of the consequences of its irresponsible policy. Both the Ukrainian people and military are gradually losing faith in their political leaders.
