KIEV, October 19 (RIA Novosti) — Refugees from the conflict-torn Donbas region are holding a demonstration in front of the Ukrainian government’sbuilding in Kiev, demanding social assistance, the Komsomolskaya Pravda in Ukraine reported Sunday.
According to the newspaper, protesters are calling for Kiev authorities to help them with basic needs, such as housing, food and clothing, after being forced to leave their homes in southeastern Ukraine.
Demonstrators have staged an installation with a folding bed, on which they have placed a wove paper pillow with the writing “as empty as your promises” and a blanket made up of unimplemented draft laws.
While houses for displaced Donbas residents are being built in the Kharkiv region, no such projects are carried out in the Ukrainian capital, protesters claim. In addition, demonstrators blame Kiev employment centers for failing to respond to the situation.
In April, Kiev launched a military operation in Ukraine’s southeast in response to the local residents’ refusal to recognize the new Ukrainian government that came to power as a result of a February coup.
According to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service, over 320,000 have moved from the conflict-stricken Donbas region to other parts of the country. In September, UN Special Rapporteur Chaloka Beyani stated that the number of internally displaced persons in Ukraine could reach 900,000.
