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RUSSIA-UKRAINE CONFLICT

Over 500,000 refugees flee Ukraine since Russia waged war

Romanian volunteers prepare water and food rations for Ukrainian refugees.
Photo: EPA/BGNES

The talks between the Russian and the Ukrainian delegation in Gomel (Belarus) have ended. The delegations left for Moscow and Kyiv for consultations. A second round of talks has also been scheduled. 

Over 500,000 Ukrainian refugees have now fled the country since Russia waged war, said U.N. High Commission for Refugees. Most of them headed to Poland, Hungary, Moldova, Romania and Slovakia.
In the last four days since the beginning of the military conflict in Ukraine, nearly 1,400 people have passed through the border crossing point Silistra-Cularasi from Bulgaria to Romania. Most of them are travelling to Turkey and Greece, fewer are those who indicate other EU countries in their declarations or that they will stay in Bulgaria. 
Fund raising campaigns have started in Bulgaria to raise funds and help Ukrainian refugees. More information here:

The situation in Ukraine has triggered tension in Bulgaria’s cabinet - Premier Kirill Petkov has demanded the resignation of Defense Minister Stefan Yanev. Tonight, citizens who are dissatisfied with the requested resignation protested downtown Sofia. They shouted "Resignation" and demanded that Stefan Yanev became a Prime Minister, BNR’sreporter Dobromir Videv informed.

The Russian Federation has banned airlines from 36 countries from using its airspace in retaliatory response to Western sanctions, said the Federal Agency for Air Transport Rosaviatsiya. Among the banned countries are Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia.

Russian businessman and billionaire Roman Abramovich has accepted the Ukrainian request to assist in the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine as part of an effort to end the ongoing war, his representative confirmed.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed Ukraine's EU membership application. The request is for Ukraine’s immediate accession under a new simplified procedure.



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