People in Ukraine are facing a harsh winter due to an energy crisis caused by Russian attacks, and they need more help to get through the colder months, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has warned.
“Energy, energy, energy. I have never seen such agreement. They are really worried about this issue,” UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi said after talks with Ukrainian officials.
Grandi noted that
ordinary people – especially in the eastern Ukrainian metropolis of Kharkiv – are already afraid of being left without heating in winter.
What is needed is the maintenance of support, Grandi added.
UNHCR has seen a slight increase in the number of refugees from Ukraine over the past two to three months, particularly after the devastating Russian missile attacks on Ukrainian power plants.
People are worried about facing the winter without electricity or even this very hot summer
Grandi said.
In his opinion, the main reason for the Ukrainians seeking refuge abroad was the electricity crisis, and not necessarily the military attacks.
Russian missile and drone attacks have destroyed more than nine gigawatts of power plant capacity since March. As a result, there have been power outages lasting hours across the country since May.
However, the UN also observed a significant number of returnees to Ukraine.
“It is estimated that one million people have returned to the country for at least three months from February 2022,” said Grandi, who said these were not people taking a quick trip home to see their houses.
However, about 6.5 million Ukrainians, or one seventh of the population, remained outside the country.
Filippo Grandi’s organization estimates that the willingness to return is still high, around 60-70 percent of Ukrainian refugees in Europe want to return to their homeland.
According to another survey, at the same time, among those seeking asylum in the Czech Republic, there are fewer and fewer people who would return to their home country.
Source: magyarnemzet.hu
