The anti-terrorist operation in east Ukraine has internally displaced over 70,000 persons, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Sych has said.

"The country has more than 70,000 internally displaced persons who are supported in their new places of residence," Sych said in Kyiv on Thursday.

He said they focused on employment and social protection of the settlers.

In turn, Deputy Social Policy Minister Valeriy Yaroshenko said his ministry was doing the utmost to pay pensions to Ukrainians. He admitted they were unable to do so for objective reasons on the militant-controlled territories.