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UKRAINE

Germany records almost a million Ukrainian refugees

Germany has registered almost a million refugees from Ukraine since Russia invaded its neighbour in February, the interior ministry said on Tuesday.

Refugees from Ukraine in Frankfurt
Refugees enter a help centre for Ukrainians in Frankfurt am Main. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Frank Rumpenhorst

A total of 967,546 people fleeing the war have entered Germany at least temporarily, 36 percent of them children, the ministry said in a statement.

Around 97 percent are Ukrainian nationals.

Among the adults, three in four are women and around eight percent are over the age of 64.

“Many in our society have gone above and beyond to help refugees,” said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, calling the influx “the largest movement of refugees (in Europe) since World War II”.

READ ALSO: ‘Happy to work here’: How refugees in Germany are easing labour shortage

There were almost 155,000 Ukrainian pupils enrolled at German schools by the end of last week, according to the conference of state education ministers in Berlin.

The UN refugee agency UNHCR says more than 6.6 million Ukrainians have been registered as refugees across Europe since the Russian invasion.

Countries including the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania and Slovakia have opened their borders, homes and wallets to help those fleeing the war.

According to the German ministry, citing the UNHCR, some 3.8 million Ukrainian refugees have returned to their home country at some point since the start of the war.

Of those registered in Germany, “a significant number” may have travelled on to other EU states or returned to Ukraine, it added.

Most Ukrainian refugees want to return home as soon as possible, according to a UN survey published in July, but do not expect to do so until the war is over.

READ ALSO: ‘It feels like a dream’: The Ukrainian refugees arriving in Berlin from war zone

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UKRAINE

Germany plans extra €400 million military aid to Ukraine

Germany is planning almost €400 million in extra military aid for Ukraine this year despite a row over budgetary constraints, according to a finance ministry document seen by AFP Thursday.

Germany plans extra €400 million military aid to Ukraine

Berlin has been the second-largest contributor of military aid to Ukraine after Washington and had already earmarked around 7.5 billion euros for Kyiv in 2024.

However, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been facing domestic pressure over the issue, with parties opposed to Berlin’s support for Kyiv making major gains at key regional elections in early September.

The additional funds are needed to “fulfil the German government’s support commitments to the Ukrainian armed forces”, the letter to the parliamentary budget committee said.

Advances by Russian forces in Ukraine have led to “heavy material losses” on the battlefield and there is a “serious risk… that Ukraine will succumb in its defence struggle without a significant increase in support”, it said.

The letter asks for the funds to be made available to provide drones and air defence equipment, among other things, “without delay” so that they can “have an impact on the battlefield in Ukraine during the remainder of 2024”.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky made a fresh appeal earlier this month for more weapons to counter the threat from advancing Russian forces in the east of the country and Moscow’s devastating missile strikes.

Berlin plans to cut back its budget for Ukraine aid next year to around €4.4 billion as it looks to make savings demanded by liberal Finance Minister Christian Lindner, according to draft budget documents.

However, the government has insisted it is “fully committed” to supporting Ukraine “for as long as necessary”.

READ ALSO: Opinion – Germany’s timid strategy risks both Ukraine’s defeat and more war in Europe

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