MOSCOW, July 21, /ITAR-TASS/. Russia’s human rights commissioner Ella Pamfilova invited her Ukrainian counterpart Valeriya Lutkovskaya to visit Ukrainian refugee accommodation centers in Russia, says a letter published on Pamfilova’s website.
“The Russian Federation, while proceeding from the principles and norms of international humanitarian law, renders all possible assistance to Ukrainian nationals forced to seek asylum on its territory,” Pamfilova said.
“As the flow of refugees from Ukrainian territory does not diminish, more than 400 temporary accommodation centers have been deployed in various Russian regions, in which Ukrainian families are hiding from combat operations underway in Ukraine,” she said.
“Despite Russia taking all required measures to accommodate them in a proper manner, Ukrainian nationals have got a huge number of questions for the Ukrainian authorities connected with infringement upon their fundamental rights as a result of the continuing conflict on Ukrainian territory,” the letter said.
“In this connection I am inviting you, dear Valeriya Vladimirovna, to visit, at any time convenient for you, one or several centers for accommodation of Ukrainian citizens on Russian territory. On my part, I am ready to render all required assistance in that to you,” Pamfilova said.
Ukrainians continue fleeing the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in southeastern Ukraine, where troops loyal to Kiev and local militias are involved in fierce clashes as the Ukrainian armed forces are conducting a military operation to regain control over the breakaway regions, which on May 11 proclaimed their independence at local referendums.
Russian Regional Development Minister Igor Slyunyayev said June 30 that the number of Ukrainian refugees arriving in Russia from the southeast of Ukraine may reach 300,000 by the end of this year.
During the military operation, conducted since mid-April, Kiev has used armored vehicles, heavy artillery and attack aviation. According to Ukraine’s Health Ministry, 478 civilians have been killed and 1,392 wounded in it. Many buildings have been destroyed and tens of thousands of people have had to flee Ukraine’s embattled Southeast.