More than 230 thousand people return to Donetsk region after evacuation

Dmytro Petlin, Head of the Department of Operational and Duty Service, Communications, Notification and Public Information of the Department of Civil Protection, Mobilization and Defense Work of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, said this at a briefing, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Evacuation has been going on in the region since February 26, 2022. And to date, more than 1 million 415 thousand civilians have been evacuated by the authorities of all levels and volunteer formations, volunteers... But during this time, about 231,000 people have returned to their permanent place of residence," Petlin said. 

He clarified that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, there have been 168,770 children and about 44,000 people with disabilities among the evacuees.

Petlin noted that today, according to local authorities, about 472 thousand people remain in communities in the Donetsk region. At the same time, he stressed that in order to save the lives of themselves and their relatives, it is better for all residents of the region to evacuate to safer regions.

Earlier, at a briefing on January 20, 2024, Petlin informed that the number of people who returned back after evacuation in the Donetsk region was 223,000 people. 

As reported, about 1 million 800 thousand residents lived in the Donetsk region in the territory controlled by the Ukrainian authorities until February 22, 2024. 

Currently, the Donetsk region is under constant shelling by Russian troops, almost every day the enemy kills and injures civilians, destroys residential and administrative buildings, energy and infrastructure facilities. Donetsk region has the longest length of the front line, which is about 300 km.