MOSCOW, July 21. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry has sent humanitarian aid to refugees, who fled the conflict-torn eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, to Russia’s southern Rostov region, the ministry’s spokesman has said.

“The Il-76 plane left Moscow region’s Ramenskoye airfield with humanitarian cargoes aboard. The plane carries about 19 tonnes of humanitarian cargoes,” Alexander Drobyshevsky told ITAR-TASS on Monday.

As of mid-July, about 480,000 Ukrainians were staying in 40 Russian regions. About 33,000 Ukrainians have applied for refugee status, the Russian Federal Migration Service says.

In total, the ministry’s aviation and automobile transport has delivered over 1,200 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Ukrainian refugees to the Rostov region and Crimea.