MOSCOW, November 2. /TASS/. The on-going Russophobic campaign in the West is making Russian compatriots feel like going back to Russia, a high-ranking Russian foreign ministry official said on Friday.

"We see upwards tendencies as concerns the number of applications under the resettlement program," Oleg Malginov, director of the ministry’s departs for work with compatriots living abroad, told TASS.

"There is a range of reasons for that, but the number of those who want to come to live in Russia, including from European countries, is going up obviously because of growing discomfort over this situation," he said, commenting of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statement on growing pressure on Russian-speakers in Western countries amidst the Russophobic campaign.

"We try to keep a close eye on this situation, to receive some data from the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries," he noted. "The press, debates in parliaments and on television - and Russophobia in society is way over the limit. They even tell us that should the Western press be likewise aggressive against other nationalities or ethnic groups the authors would have been brought to court."

The most pressing Russophobic situation, in his words, is in the Baltic states.

However, the Russian diplomat stressed, there is no Russophobia among ordinary people in the West. "Even in the United States, our compatriots organize various events and representatives from the local authorities take part in them. They help organize such events. The same can be said about other countries. Naturally, we cannot say that the mass media have no influence but we cannot say either that their negative images of Russia have taken root in society," Malginov noted.

Speaking at the opening of the 6th World Congress of Russian Compatriots, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted that many Russians living abroad are faced with the consequences of the West’s anti-Russian campaign in the West.