Since the start of Russia’s aggression in 2014, 8.5 million Ukrainians have left the country, said the Ukrainian Parliament’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets. Lubinets shared the data on Telegram following his participation in the World Ukrainian Summit. JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. A staggering global challenge According to calculations provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 5.7 million Ukrainians have fled the country since the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion in February 2022. However, when aggregating the data from the very beginning of Russian aggression in 2014, the cumulative number of displaced citizens climbing to 8.5 million individuals. “This is a global challenge that requires coordinated actions,” Lubinets stated. The Ombudsman emphasized that the primary legal mechanism for safeguarding these millions must remain the international status of temporary protection. He argued that this legal framework must remain fully active until all active combat operations within Ukraine come to a complete end, and should place a priority focus on protecting vulnerable categories of citizens. To support this effort, the Ombudsman’s Office is expanding a network of representatives and advisors abroad to provide direct, on-the-ground legal consultations to Ukrainian nationals. Condemning the illegal seizure of Ukrainian children Beyond routine document processing, Lubinets drew attention to a deeply painful category of legal cases emerging in European host countries: the forced removal of Ukrainian children by foreign municipal authorities.