Over 40,000 Ukrainians receive temporarily displaced status in Sweden - Ambassador Plakhotnyuk

MOSCOW. Aug 12 (Interfax) - As many as 42,000 Ukrainian citizens, including 13,000 children, have received the status of temporarily displaced persons in Sweden, Ukrainian Ambassador to Sweden Andriy Plakhotnyuk said.

"As of this day, the number of Ukrainians who had to move to Sweden and received the status of temporarily displaced persons under the European Union directive stands at approximately 42,000, including about 13,000 children," Plakhotnyuk said at a virtual briefing at the Ukraine media center in Lviv on Friday, the Ukrainian media said.

Besides the provision of benefits, the Ukrainian government is doing a lot to help the employment of Ukrainians and school studies of Ukrainian children, Plakhotnyuk said.

There are healthcare and social security programs, and "even museums are available to the Ukrainians for free," Plakhotnyuk said.

The Swedish government has allotted 10 billion kroner to accommodate pressing needs of the Ukrainians temporarily residing in Sweden, he said.

The overall assistance to Ukraine provided by Sweden since February 24 has reached 395 million euros, the ambassador said.

"As of this moment, the assistance provided to Ukraine has reached 4.2 billion Swedish kroner, or approximately 395 million euros," Plakhotnyuk said.

Sweden plans to continue and broaden the support to Ukraine, he said.