MOSCOW, August 21 (RIA Novosti) - About 60,190 refugees from southeastern Ukraine are currently staying in Russian temporary accommodation centers, an emergency response center representative told RIA Novosti on Thursday.
“There are now 845 temporary accommodation centers in the regions of Russia, housing 60,190 people,” he said, adding that 41,740 Ukrainian refugees and 1,960 tons of aid supplies have already been transported to different regions in Russia.
The number of Ukrainian refugees in Russian accomodation centers has increased by 1,420 since yesterday. These temporary accommodations are mostly in the buildings of educational and cultural institutions, holiday camps and sports facilities. Passenger rail cars are used to shelter the refugees as well. The number of beds in such centers depends on the extent of the specific emergency and ranges from about 50 to several thousand.
According to Russian Emergencies Ministry deputy head Vladimir Stepanov, tent camps that have been set up in Russia to house the large number of Ukrainian refugees will not close until a new refugee reception system is in place. He added that stationary accommodation centers would not be administered by the Emergencies Ministry.
On August 14, the Russian Federal Migration Service suggested sending Ukrainian refugees to different regions of the country, providing them with migration cards. It also proposed closing down the tent camps.
Refugee numbers are on the rise as people are fleeing the ongoing unrest in southeastern Ukraine, where Ukrainian Special Forces are carrying out a military operation against independence supporters. According to the latest numbers provided by Russian authorities, more than 730,000 Ukrainians who have been forced to leave conflict-stricken areas are currently staying in Russia.
