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Russian Foreign Ministry issues comment on situation around ethnic minorities in Ukraine

More and more holders of Ukrainian passports are seeking asylum in Russia, the ministry says

Russian Foreign Ministry ITAR-TASS/ Gennadiy Hamelyanin

Russian Foreign Ministry

© ITAR-TASS/ Gennadiy Hamelyanin

MOSCOW, March 28. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian Foreign Ministry has issued an official comment on the situation around ethnic minorities in Ukraine. Follows the full text of the document.

"Regarding the current situation in Ukraine, we would like to call attention to the circumstances that characterize the state of affairs in that country pending the February 22 coup in a most graphic way."

"Total oblivion of the interests of the Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine has stopped being news and has turned into a fixed feature of reality. Suspension of broadcasting of four major Russian television channels offers the freshest evidence to it."

"Less noticeable, but no less dramatic, is the situation around the ethnic Germans, Czechs, Hungarians, and other ethnic minorities living in Ukraine. They are alarmed by the unstable political situation in the country and have grave fears for their lives, as they come to grips with the outrageous acts committed by homegrown ultranationalists and neo-Nazis."

"In the wake of it, a sizable increase in the numbers of people willing to leave Ukraine for ancestral homelands either temporarily or forever has been registered."

"More and more holders of Ukrainian passports are seeking asylum in Russia."

"We believe these people’s plight should not bypass the attention of influential international organizations including the UN, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the Council of Europe, which should demonstrate their practical readiness to defend the rights of people," the commentary said.

"We expect that the international rights agencies and institutes will come up with principled assessments of human rights abuses, including the rights of ethnic minorities, committed by the new authorities in Kiev," the ministry said.

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