230,000 have fled homes in Ukraine crisis

GENEVA, July 25 (AFP): A total of 230,000 people have fled their homes during the spiralling armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, the United Nations refugee agency said Friday.

UNHCR spokesman Dan McNorton told reporters that the number of people who have left the conflict zone for other Ukrainian regions was now close to 100,000, while some 130,000 had crossed the border into Russia.

"They are mainly from the Lugansk and Donetsk regions. Those are figures that have risen in recent weeks," McNorton said.