MOSCOW, August 7 (RIA Novosti) — Russia has granted temporary asylum to approximately 60,000 Ukrainian refugees, the head of the citizenship department in Russia’s Federal Migration Service said Thursday.
“All of those who applied for temporary asylum status received it. That number is close to 60,000," Valentina Kazakova said.
The citizenship department head said that not everyone has the actual document in their hands yet, because not everyone has received their medical examination papers.
“But the decision has been made, and once all of the necessary procedures are completed, then the people will get their certificates," Kazakova said, adding that the entire procedure takes three days.
Russia’s Federal Migration Service (FMS) Director Konstantin Romodanovsky said Tuesday that the number of people granted asylum by Russian authorities is going to grow dramatically in the upcoming days following the adoption of a regulation that shortens the waiting time from the previous three months. The FMS expects as many as 100,000 Ukrainians to file applications.
The total number of Ukrainian refugees reached 117,000 this week, according to the UN refugee agency. The number grew by 6,200 people last week alone, according to the agency. Most of the refugees, about 87 percent are residents of the country's east fleeing the fighting between government forces and independence supporters.
The number of refugees from Luhansk and Donetsk has risen from 2,600 in early June to 102,600 in early August.
The Russian authorities and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported earlier this week that 740,000 people have crossed the border since the start of the year.
UN humanitarian official John Ging said Tuesday that more than 1,300 people have been killed in Kiev’s military operation in the eastern regions of Ukraine since mid-April.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sent official requests to the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the UN to establish a humanitarian mission in southeastern Ukraine.
