Global Report on Internal Displacement 2025

​Regional Overviews
 
Europe & Central Asia (Part 2)
Conflict displacement persisted 
Nearly three-quarters of the 306,000 movements reported in Ukraine last year took place in the frontline oblast of Donetsk, where authorities issued evacuation orders as hostilities persisted. The first large-scale displacement event took place between 23 and 25 March after Russian advances near Avdiivka and Donetsk City triggered 17,000 movements. On the other side of the border, repeated Ukrainian shelling led Russian authorities to evacuate and relocate around 10,000 children from frontline settlements in Belgorod to 16 other oblasts.
 
Russia also launched an offensive in Kharkiv oblast in May, which marked a significant escalation in north-eastern Ukraine. Shelling caused substantial damage to local infrastructure and led to nearly 19,000 evacuations. Most of the evacuees were from vulnerable groups, including elderly and persons with disabilities who had been unable to flee earlier in the conflict.
 
An even larger offensive took place in August and September, triggering almost 119,000 displacements in Donetsk and 38,000 in Sumy oblast. In response, Ukrainian forces carried out a ground offensive into Russia, triggering more than 156,000 movements in Kursk oblast between 7 August and 23 September, the highest conflict displacement figure on record for the country. The offensive also led to more than 11,000 evacuations from Belgorod oblast. There were 171,000 people living in displacement as a result of conflict and violence in Russia at the end of the year, the highest figure since data became available for the country in 2009, in part because no information was available about any IDPs who may have found solutions. 
 
The number of IDPs in Ukraine was almost unchanged from 2023, at 3.7 million, 62 per cent of whom had been living in displacement for at least two years. The protracted nature of the conflict has led many IDPs to prioritise local integration over return in the short and medium terms. In other cases, however, the length of their displacement has stretched their financial resources, making them less able to afford adequate accommodation, food and healthcare, and forcing some to contemplate return despite prevailing insecurity.
 
Global Report on Internal Displacement 2025. Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. Norwegian Refugee Council. Geneva, Switzerland.