A refugee from the Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, Ekaterina Mosha, 82, has a meal with her grandson Dmitrii, 3, after fleeing the war from neighboring Ukraine, at the border crossing in Palanca, Moldova, on March 19, 2022. AP
The International Organization for Migration, in its first such full assessment in three weeks, reported Tuesday that more than 7.1 million had been displaced within Ukraine as of April 1. That comes on top of the figure of more than 4 million who have fled abroad, reported by the U.N. refugee agency.
IOM said more than 2.9 million others are actively considering ``leaving their place of habitual residence due to war.''
Ukraine had a pre-war population of 44 million.
The tally marked an increase from IOM's tally in mid-March of more than 9.7 million displaced internally in Ukraine or driven abroad.
The governor of eastern Ukraine's Luhansk region has urged residents to stay inside, shut windows and doors and prepare wet face masks after a Russian strike hit a tank containing nitric acid.
Serhiy Haidai said on the messaging app Telegram Tuesday that the incident occurred near the city of Rubizhne, which the Ukrainian military says the Russians have been trying to take over. He didn't specify what area the warning applies to.
Haidai warned that nitric acid ``is dangerous if inhaled, swallowed and in contact with skin and mucous membranes.'' The Russian military has not commented on the claim, and it could not be verified independently.
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