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Developments in eastern Ukraine

One thousand Ukrainians flee persecution for political motives to Donetsk

According to DPR People's Council speaker, there are 1,000 Ukrainian political refugees in the self-proclaimed republic

© Mikhail Pochuev/TASS

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Kiev authorities continue killing those who tell the truth — DPR head

MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/. The number of people fleeing persecution in Ukraine for political motives to the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) has reached 1,000, DPR People’s Council speaker Andrey Purgin said on Friday.

"There are 1,000 Ukrainian political refugees in our republic now," the Donetsk News Agency quoted Purgin as saying. "The republic is ready to accept people persecuted for political motives," he added.

Several political refugees got to DPR from Ukraine as a result of prisoner exchanges held earlier, Purgin noted.

"Among prisoners held on the territory of Ukraine were not self-defense forces, but rather those detained for an opinion that differs from the Kiev’s official position," he added. "Many people don’t have any documents, they are wanted on the territory of Ukraine. There are many people from Odessa and Kharkiv among political refugees," the speaker stressed.

Purgin also noted that 200 people were recently detained in Kharkov for "dissent."

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Eastern Ukraine

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