MOSCOW, October 7 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s second largest crude oil producer Lukoil has allocated $88 thousand in aid to Ukrainian refugees in Western Siberia, the company said in a statement Tuesday.
“On September 22-30 donation boxes were installed at all Lukoil offices in the Moscow region,” the statement said, noting that warm clothes could also be donated for Ukrainian refugees.
“As a result, over 800 thousand rubles were collected and around 40 packages with clothing and shoes were collected,” the statement added.
There are 900 Ukrainian refugees officially registered in Western Siberia. The total number of Ukrainian refugees registered in Russia stood at 390,000 as of September 24.
According to the head of the Federal Migration Service (FMS), Konstantin Romodanovsky, over 180,000 Ukrainians have applied for refugee status and have been given temporary asylum in Russia. More than 90,000 people are awaiting temporary residence permits.
The inflow of refugees has significantly increased since June, amid continuing violence in the conflict-torn Ukraine.
The conflict started in April, when Kiev forces launched a military operation in Ukraine’s southeastern regions, where independence supporters refused to recognize the new government which came to power in the country as a result of the February coup.
