Since February 24, more than a million people have been evacuated from Ukraine into Russia, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in remarks published early Saturday (Apr 30).
The 1.02 million figure includes 120,000 foreigners and civilians evacuated from Russia-backed Ukrainian breakaway territories, the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s republics, which Russia recognized as independent just before commencing its war.
According to UN estimates, more than 5.4 million people have fled Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion. Moscow refers to the demilitarization and “denazification” of its neighbor as a “special operation.” Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of launching an unjustified assault.
According to Lavrov’s comments to China’s official Xinhua news agency, which were published on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website, 2.8 million people in Ukraine have requested to be evacuated to Russia.
According to Ukraine, Moscow has forcibly deported hundreds of people to Russia.
Civilian evacuations from key frontline regions, like the besieged southern port of Mariupol, have frequently failed, with one side blaming the other.
If the US and NATO are “really” interested in settling the Ukrainian situation, Lavrov believes they should stop providing arms to Kiev.
“By publicly expressing support for the Kyiv administration, NATO countries are doing everything possible to prevent the operation from being terminated through political negotiations,” Lavrov stated.
Source: CNA
