MOSCOW, June 26. /ITAR-TASS/. Around 10,000 Ukrainian citizens asked for refugee status or temporary asylum in Russia, deputy head of the Federal Migration Service’s department in Moscow Marina Kapustina said in a public advisory council on Thursday.
“More than 9,600 Ukrainian citizens asked for refugee status or temporary asylum,” she said.
Growing number of refugees from Ukraine
Over 23,000 Ukrainian refugees have fled to Russia, Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets said on Wednesday, June 25.
“We have set up 262 camps for temporary accommodation of refugees from Ukraine and 23,286 people are staying in them,” she said. “This number is constantly changing because regions … are making job offers and some refugees are changing their status to Russian citizenship and moving to Russian regions for permanent residence,” the minister said.
She said the number of wounded persons coming from Ukraine had decreased after the ceasefire in the south-east of the neighbouring country.
{article_photo:737641:'Ukrainians seeking asylum in Russia likely to join compatriots’ resettlement program':'right':'50'}Lengthening residence permits for Ukrainian refugees
All departments of the Russian Federal Migration Service (FMS) have been ordered to unconditionally lengthen residence permits to citizens of Ukraine as long as the crisis in Ukraine continues, the FMS press service told ITAR-TASS on Wednesday. FMS has released the instruction on its website for Ukrainian citizens who arrive in Russia.
To lengthen the term of stay in Russia a Ukrainian citizen should apply to a territorial FMS department, produce his/her passport and migration card. All Russian FMS departments have been instructed to unconditionally lengthen the term of presence in Russia for Ukrainian citizens at their request, FMS said on its website.
The instruction also specified where the Ukrainian applicants should apply to get a legal status, a job license or a patent or apply for temporary asylum or a refugee status.
Accommodating Ukrainian refugees in Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin told cabinet ministers at a meeting on Wednesday that the government should help Russian regions in accommodating refugees who come to Russia from conflict zones in Ukraine.{article_photo:736863:'400,000 Ukrainians are in Russian regions bordering on Ukraine — senior official':'left':'50'}"I would like you to think how we can help the people stranded in conflict zones who are entering our territory. It is clear that the number of refugees is so great that it is becoming hard for Russian regions to cope with the influx. I am asking the government to think of how to help the Russian regions. I know that the prime minister has taken this decision,” Putin said.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has ordered assignment of 240 million rubles (about $705,880) to the southern Rostov region where refugees keep streaming from Ukraine.
The money is allocated for the establishment of temporary accommodation centres and provision of meals for Ukrainian nationals crossing into Russia.