At least one million Ukrainians have left the country due to military violence in Donbas. The country faces substantial demographic, social and infrastructure losses amid the emergence of a new Ukrainian civil society, Ukrainian scientists have said.
Director of Ptoukha Institute for Demography and Social Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Ella Libanova on Wednesday in Kyiv presented the report “Ukrainian Society Integration Policy in Context of Challenges and Threats Caused by Events in Donbas” drawn up by the specialists from seven institutes.
“We believe that visible changes in eastern Ukraine will not take place soon… social and physiological tensions there are at the breaking point. Many soldiers – Russian military servicemen – are stationed there,” Libanova said.
She said that Ukraine would not recognize the lawfulness of annexation of temporarily occupied territories no matter what events will transpire.
“We think that Donbas will be always part of Ukraine,” she said.
Libanova said that the report emphasizes that the country has faced demographic losses due to events in Donbas.
“We’ve lost people, as most of them left Ukraine. Today, we even do not know exactly how many people left the country. We think that near one million people left Ukraine due to events in Donbas. However we cannot figure out exactly how many people left,” she said.
The scientists state that death rate has increased. People do not receive medical care. Many people suffer from stress. The birth rate has also dropped.
According to the report, the country has suffered large losses in industrial infrastructure and jobs. Libanova said the events over the past several years could presage an economic rebound amid the rebirth of Ukrainian civil society.
The director of the institute said that the problem of cultural identity should be resolved and people deserve explanations about state policy from Ukrainian officials.
