Sun 08 January 2023:

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has unleashed the largest wave of refugees since WWII, the UN refugee body has said.

“More that 7.9 million people have fled the country, and another 5.9 million are internally displaced,” the UNHCR representative in Germany, Katharina Lumpp, said.

The total figure of almost 14 million represents more than a third of the country’s total population of around 41 million.

Ukraine has the ‘largest’ minefield in the world: PM

Ukraine’s PM Denys Shmyhal said the war has resulted in a minefield of 250,000sq km (96,526sq miles) in the war-torn nation.

“It is currently the largest minefield in the world,” Shmyhal told South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.

The mined area, according to Shmyhal, is equivalent to more than 40 percent of Ukraine’s total land area.

“It’s not only making it difficult for people to travel, but also causing major disruptions in farming, which is one of our main industries,” he said.

Moscow ends self-proclaimed ceasefire

Russia’s overnight bombing of regions in eastern Ukraine killed at least one, local officials said on Sunday, after Moscow ended a self-declared Christmas ceasefire and vowed to push on with combat until it reaches a victory over its neighbour.

President Vladimir Putin ordered on Friday a 36-hour ceasefire along the line of contact to observe Russia and Ukraine’s Orthodox Christmas, which fell on Saturday. Ukraine had rejected the truce, and there was shelling along the frontline.

Growing concerns

There’s been growing concerns that Belarus – a staunch backer of Moscow – could be used as a staging post to attack Ukraine from the north after increasing military activity in the country and fresh transfer of Russian troops there.

Unofficial Telegram channels monitoring military activity in Belarus reported late on Saturday that some 1,400-1,600 Russian troops arrived from Russia into the northeastern city of Vitebsk in Belarus over the past two days.

Reuters was not able to independently verify the information.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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