Ukraine 's Social Policy Minister Denys Uliutin told a public forum on May 7 that only 22 to 25 million people currently live in territory under Kyiv's control. Speaking at the "New Country" discussion panel, he said the situation was, in his word, " a catastrophe ". The figure came as a surprise even against recent projections. Ella Libanova, director of the Institute of Demography and Social Studies at the National Academy of Sciences, had put the population of government-controlled territory