"If they want to work, there are opportunities": Vereshchuk responded to claims about "thousands of IDPs" heading to occupied territories.

Ukrainians who were forced to leave their homes during the war and became internally displaced persons (IDPs) receive assistance from the government, which, although modest, is still available. Additionally, anyone willing can find work, though not at the same level as what they lost due to the full-scale war with the Russian Federation. Vice Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk wrote about the situation concerning IDPs who are allegedly returning en masse to occupied territories in her Telegram channel.

Vereshchuk published a message in response to statements from "some of our politicians" who claim that Ukrainians are going back to the occupied areas. According to her, this is being done by "irresponsible hype-seekers," and overall they are "lying," as they have not presented any official statistics. The Vice Prime Minister countered that the government does not provide assistance to IDPs, nor does it offer housing or jobs. She assured that everyone in need receives 2-3 thousand hryvnias and is provided with temporary housing. She acknowledged that in wartime, people cannot receive as much money as they did before the war, but those who want to find work are able to do so.

"I will never believe that thousands of Ukrainians are going to Russian occupation due to a lack of 2-3 thousand hryvnias in monthly state assistance. Yes, the government cannot give every displaced person an apartment. But there is temporary housing," — stated Vereshchuk.

Following this, the Vice Prime Minister accused the speakers of supporting "hostile narratives" that undermine the state, are criminal, and harm the government. She did not name the speakers.

IDP Assistance — Details

It is worth noting that Vereshchuk's response came after an interview with MP from the "Servant of the People" party, Maksym Tkachenko, with the "Ukrinform" agency. Among other things, he stated that 150,000 IDPs have returned to the occupation (out of a total of 5 million people — this is 3%). The reason for such behavior is the lack of assistance from the government: they have no housing, social payments, compensation, or jobs, he said. Meanwhile, the budget for 2025 has allocated expenses for this category of citizens amounting to 48.6 billion hryvnias, the politician stated (in 2022 it was 73 billion hryvnias, in 2023 — 57 billion hryvnias). One can calculate that the total payments for each of the 5 million displaced persons amount to 9,600 hryvnias.