117,000 Ukrainians internally displaced by conflict

GENEVA (AA) - The U.N. Refugee Agency has warned the plight of ordinary people in eastern Ukraine is continuing to deteriorate and estimates that more than 117,000 people have been displaced inside Ukraine and 730,000 have left for Russia. A total of 15,200 Crimeans are among those internally displaced within Ukraine, UNHCR's European Director Vincent Cochetel told reporters in the U.N. headquarters in Geneva on Tuesday. Noting that a large number of people from Ukraine were arriving and staying in Russia under its visa-free regime, Cochetel said: "According to the Russian authorities, about 730,000 Ukrainians have left the country and gone to Russia since the beginning of the conflict." Cochetel said the number of people displaced from the Luhanks and Donetsk regions had risen sharply from 2,600 to 102,600 since early June to early August.