In view of the winter weather and the Russian attacks on the infrastructure, the Ukrainian President Zelenskyy urged his compatriots to persevere. Meanwhile, the UN Refugee Agency expects displacement in the country to increase.
With a view to the cold season, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to the population for stamina and resilience. “The enemy very much hopes to use winter against us: to make the winter cold and hardship part of their terror,” he said in his daily video message on Sunday evening. “We must do everything to survive this winter, no matter how tough it is.” To endure this winter means to endure everything.
Russia does have an advantage with missiles and artillery. “But we have something that the occupier doesn’t have and won’t have. We protect our home and that gives us the greatest possible motivation,” Zelenskyj emphasized. The Ukrainian people fight for freedom and defend the truth, he says. “To get through the winter, we need to be more resilient and united than ever,” Zelenskyy appealed to the Ukrainians.
In view of the winter weather and ongoing Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) expects an increase in displacement within Ukraine rather than a large flow of refugees towards the EU countries. “The most likely scenario is further displacement within Ukraine,” said UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi in an interview with “Spiegel”. “I hope there won’t be another big movement of refugees.” At the same time he qualified: “But war is unpredictable.”
He worries that those who are still able to flee abroad will most likely need more support. “Unlike in spring, this time more publicly operated accommodation will be needed, and funds will be needed for this,” said Grandi, looking ahead to winter. Therefore, countries like Poland and the Czech Republic, which would have to bear a particularly heavy burden, should be given financial support, he demanded.
