MOSCOW, June 23. /ITAR-TASS/. Ten Russian regions are now hosting refugees who fled the turmoil in Ukraine’s south-east, Deputy Emergencies Minister Vladimir Stepanov said on Monday.
Citizens from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions mostly arrive in Russia’s southern Rostov region and Crimea, Stepanov said. Over the last 24 hours, at least 7,000 people have arrived in the Rostov region, Governor Sergei Bondarev said.
Over 13,000 migrants, including 5,000 children, are currently in the region, he said. “We offer a list of regions that are ready to accept them. Then people are choosing themselves where they will go,” he noted. About 500 people have arrived in Lipetsk and Voronezh, Stepanov said.
The Lipetsk Regional Administration told ITAR-TASS that refugees, including 121 Ukrainian residents (38 children and four disabled persons), had arrived in Lipetsk from Rostov. Stepanov said necessary measures were being taken to allow children to go to kindergartens and schools.
Russian First Deputy Emergencies Minister Sergei Slyakov said all refugees had been accommodated without any delay. The sanitary and epidemiological situation is normal. Refugees have been provided foodstuffs and necessary aid, including psychological assistance, he said.
Over 12,500 refugees, accommodated in 200 temporary centers, are now staying in Russian regions.