Residents of frontline areas are often forced to remain under fire due to the lack of sufficient support for internally displaced persons, said Ombudsman Olga Altunina, drawing attention to systemic problems with payments and housing for displaced persons.
According to her, currently, people who are evacuated through transit centers receive a one-time benefit of 10,800 hryvnias. However, this is where state support actually ends. If a person finds a job, they lose the right to further payments. If they do not find a job, they can receive only 2,000 hryvnias per month for the first six months, which does not even cover the basic costs of renting a home.
The situation is complicated by the scale of the problem. Of the approximately 4.6 million internally displaced persons, only about a million are currently receiving state assistance. At the same time, the number of recipients of payments was significantly reduced in 2023, which, according to Altunina, caused disappointment among people.
Housing remains a separate problem. Only about 80,000 IDPs are provided with compact living spaces. The rest are forced to rent housing on their own, which becomes a serious financial burden.
As a result, many people are hesitant to leave dangerous areas. They remain under constant threat of shelling because they are unsure whether they will be able to find housing and provide for their basic needs after evacuation.
Experts emphasize that without systemic changes in the policy of supporting displaced people, the problem will only worsen, and the risks for the civilian population in frontline areas will remain critically high.
