An expanded meeting of the Coordination Headquarters for Evacuation Measures and Effective Response to Mass Displacement of the Population was held under the chairmanship of the Deputy Prime Minister for the Reconstruction of Ukraine – Minister of Community and Territorial Development Oleksiy Kuleba.
The meeting was attended by the Deputy Minister of Community and Territorial Development Oleksiy Ryabykin.
Due to the security situation, a decision has been made to mandatory evacuate children with their parents or legal representatives from 19 settlements in the Donetsk region.
“In conditions of active hostilities, individual settlements remain in a zone of increased risk. Special attention must be paid to the protection of children and people with limited mobility, who are the most vulnerable. Evacuation must be organized clearly and without delay so that people understand every step. How quickly and calmly people can leave for safer places depends on the coordinated work of everyone involved in the process,” said Oleksiy Kuleba.
A decision was also made to evacuate about 200 people with reduced mobility from residential institutions in Zaporizhia region to Chernivtsi region. The Ministry of Social Policy, Family and Unity, together with the Ministry of Finance, was instructed to work out the allocation of funding for proper accommodation and ensuring comfortable and safe conditions for the evacuees in the host country.
The meeting discussed draft law No. 12353, which regulates the issue of mandatory evacuation, including children. The processing of proposals and approval of amendments with all interested parties is already at the final stage.
After the evacuation, people arrive at specially created transit centers. There they receive comprehensive assistance: humanitarian, medical, psychological, legal and social. They are helped to restore documents, issue payments and social services, as well as receive financial support from the state and humanitarian organizations.
Currently, 17 transit centers for receiving evacuated citizens operate in Ukraine: 7 in Dnipropetrovsk, 3 in Sumy, 2 in Kharkiv, 3 in Volyn, one each in Mykolaiv and Zaporizhia regions. The largest number of people are received by the Centers located in Pavlohrad and Voloskeme in Dnipropetrovsk region, as well as in the city of Lozova in Kharkiv region and Kharkiv.
Since June 1, more than 147 thousand people have been evacuated from frontline areas to safer regions, including more than 17 thousand children and more than 5 thousand people with limited mobility. About 93 thousand people were evacuated from Donetsk region, almost 35 thousand people from Dnipropetrovsk region, more than 4.4 thousand people from Sumy region, more than 3.7 thousand people from Kherson region, more than 8.5 thousand people from Kharkiv region, and more than 2.7 thousand people from Zaporizhia region.
The evacuation is carried out by the joint efforts of the State Emergency Service, the National Police, communities, volunteers and international partners. Special groups of the State Emergency Service “Phoenix” and special units of the National Police of Ukraine “White Angel” are working in the frontline areas. They are equipped with armored vehicles, medical equipment and necessary equipment for transporting people with reduced mobility.
In places of temporary residence of internally displaced persons, the total number of beds for temporary accommodation reaches more than 80.5 thousand, of which more than 7.3 thousand remain free for settlement.
For their part, regional military administrations are deploying additional beds for the evacuated population. As of December 22, more than 15,300 new beds have been deployed, including about 396 for people with limited mobility.
The crisis hotline 15–48 continues to operate 24/7. It provides information on the evacuation procedure, a list of territories where hostilities are or have been taking place, temporary residence conditions, obtaining status and assistance for internally displaced persons, and also records appeals in case of violation of citizens’ rights.