At a regular meeting of the Coordination Headquarters for the mandatory evacuation of the population under martial law, representatives of Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regional military administrations reported on the status of civilian evacuation in these regions.
The evacuation of civilians from the areas of possible hostilities continues. Evacuation routes continue to operate, one-time cash assistance is being paid, and temporary housing, humanitarian aid and psychological support are being provided free of charge.
Between November 2022 and December 2023, 62,000 evacuees received one-time financial assistance totalling almost UAH 145 million.
Vice Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk called for the issue of children in the area of active and possible hostilities to be kept under constant review: “The safety of children comes first. We must get all children out of the danger zone.”
A total of 2,940 children were evacuated to safe places in 2023.
This became possible due to the Coordination Headquarters’ approval of 9 decisions of regional military administrations on the mandatory evacuation of children with their parents or persons in loco parentis from a particular settlement in the area where hostilities are taking place.
They also discussed the escort of people returning to Ukraine across the state border at the Kolotylivka (Russia) – Pokrovka (Ukraine) checkpoint.
Iryna Vereshchuk thanked everyone involved in organising the relocation of the hub from Krasnopillia to Sumy. This is a transit centre for short-term stay of people crossing the state border and returning to the territory of Ukraine.
“This decision makes it possible to make people’s stay in the centre safer and more comfortable,” the official said.