As of today, more than 2.5 million people live in the Odessa region. The number of residents continues to grow, in particular, due to a full-scale war. This was stated in an interview with TSN by the head of the Odessa regional state administration Oleg Kiper, reports UNN.
"Odessa is a city with its own specifics and history. Odessa has always been a Ukrainian city, and people love Ukrainian Odessa.
Today we have registered 240 thousand IDPs. There are cities, there are settlements, including Odessa and Izmail, where the population has increased.
So, before the war, there were 2.5 million people in the Odessa region, and today the population has not decreased, but increased. At the expense of IDPs," he said.
The keeper added that the regional authorities provide comprehensive support to the residents of the region.
"We are ready to accept, help and provide opportunities to people who have lost almost everything in their hometowns.
And the business is moving. I see an increase in its number in the agricultural sector and in the service sector. They bring their own ideas, and we put it all together. And we are working further to develop our region.
The main part of IDPs migrated to us from Kherson and Mykolaiv. Also from Zaporizhia, Donetsk and Luhansk regions," he added.