Over 6.5 million people flee Ukraine amid full-scale invasion – UN report
Source: Dmytro Lubinets/Telegram
In his Telegram post on Thursday, Ukraine’s human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets revealed the key figures from the latest UN report on the damage suffered by Ukraine after Russia’s Feb.24 invasion, and the facts are alarming.
Over 6.5 million individuals have become refugees abroad, with an additional 3.5 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) since the onset of the full-scale invasion. This data comes from he analytical report on Ukraine amidst armed conflict by the Protection Cluster, led by the UNHCR.
Since February 2022, there have been over 32,100 civilian casualties recorded in Ukraine. Explosive weapons are responsible for 92% of these deaths, while mines and explosive devices account for 4%.
As of February 2024, the direct damage to civilian infrastructure amounts to approximately €138 billion, with residential areas being the most affected.
Confirmed attacks on medical facilities total 1,742, resulting in 136 deaths and 311 injuries. Additionally, there have been documented cases of sexual violence by Russian military personnel against individuals aged 3 to 70.
Ukraine remains one of the most mine-contaminated countries globally, posing a threat to 6.37 million people. Farmers have been significantly impacted, with 128 deaths since February 2022. Mines also present a severe danger to children.
In 2025, the deadliest year yet for civilians, Ukraine’s three largest charitable foundations raised a record 105.9 billion hryvnias. It is more than the years 2022–2024 combined. According to the UN, humanitarian aid in Ukraine was delivered by more than 450 organisations, reaching five million people over the course of the year. Civic foundations hold licences to purchase lethal weapons, which is a function states have monopolised for centuries. These record sums were underwritten by international government grants, which means foreign states now channel billions directly through Ukrainian civic funds, bypassing inter-state channels. It is hard to imagine a stronger institutional trust in civil society.
During the GLOBSEC Defence Forum 2026 in Prague, representatives of “Steel Front”, an initiative by Rinat Akhmetov, discussed with NATO delegations, military officials, and representatives of the European defense industry the lessons learned from Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
After the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine witnessed an unprecedented wave of private support for the army. Citizens, big businesses, charitable foundations, and international philanthropists began financing the country’s defense alongside state assistance provided by international partners. Estimates of total private contributions range from tens to hundreds of billions of hryvnias. However, determining the exact amount remains difficult. In many cases, companies combine military aid, humanitarian programs, tax payments, social spending, and employee support in their reporting.
Rinat Akhmetov’s military initiative, “Steel Front”, has delivered a batch of drones worth UAH 214 million to the 1st “Azov” Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine. This shipment is part of the Metinvest Group’s ongoing support for the unit in 2025.
On October 6, the Administrative Cassation Court within the Supreme Court of Ukraine continued hearing case No. 990/80/25, in which the fifth President and leader of the party “European Solidarity”, Petro Poroshenko, seeks to have Presidential Decree No. 81/2025 from February 12, 2025 — enacting sanctions by the decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) — declared illegal and annulled. The plaintiff claims the document was falsified and that the sanctions are a tool of political persecution of the opposition, contrary to international norms. Government representatives deny the allegations and insist their actions were lawful. Journalists of Bukvy were present at the hearing.