Migration Processes in the Kharkiv Region in the Conditions of Russian Aggression and Their Impact on the Demographic Situation

Abstract

The study of migration processes, caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, is a rather relevant scientific problem. The main territorial directions of migration processes in Kharkiv region and their impact on the demographic situation in the oblast are defined in the article. Attention is focused on the essence of the terms war fugitives – forced migrants (internally displaced persons) in Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees abroad. At the end of February 2022 yet, the offensive of the Russian invaders on Kharkiv has been stopped thanks to the heroic resistance of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Territorial Defense troops. Therefore, Kharkiv has been included in the list of the first cities of Ukraine to receive the title of Hero City (March 21, 2022). Temporal differences in migration flows are determined and the peculiarities of the territorial placement of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Kharkiv region and other oblasts of Ukraine are defined on the base of the analysis of statistical data provided by the Kharkiv Regional Military-Civil Administration. The scale of these forced migrations is described, primarily in the city of Kharkiv. Its population has been decreased from 1,400,000 people on the eve of the Russian invasion to 300,000 people in April, 2022. According to the estimations of the Kharkiv city authorities, 600,000 people have been evacuated from Kharkiv by railway alone in the spring of 2022. It has been impossible to evacuate from the northern and eastern areas of Kharkiv region in the first months of the war. A significant part of the region territory (territories of 5 out of 7 districts) is under occupation. Attention is focused on the wave of return (re-evacuation) of the population to Kharkiv, which has started in May, 2022 after the liberation of the city’s nearest surroundings from the Russian occupiers and lasted until the spring of 2023, when the population of Kharkiv reaches 1.1 million people. Almost the whole territory of the Kharkiv region has been liberated in September-October, 2022. The ethnic structure of the population of Kharkiv region at the early 21st century is also revealed. It is indicated that a significant part of the forced migrants who have adapted to the new areas will remain there. This applies not only to Ukrainian migrants abroad, but also to Kharkiv residents who live currently in the other regions of Ukraine, especially among those who have lost their homes and jobs in the Kharkiv region. This will objectively negatively affect the already difficult demographic situation in Kharkiv region in the near future.