NOVO-OGARYOVO, July 11 (RIA Novosti) – Russian President Vladimir Putin, before leaving for Latin America, discussed the growing number of refugees fleeing from Ukraine to Russia with the permanent members of Russia’s Security Council.
During the meeting issues concerning the political situation in Ukraine were discussed in the context of the growing numbers of refugees arriving to Russia from Ukraine.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, speakers of the Russian parliament’s upper and lower houses Valentina Matvienko and Sergei Naryshkin, Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, head of Federal Security Service Alexander Bortnikov and a number of other top-ranking officials took part in the meeting.
The number of refugees fleeing from southeast Ukraine to Russia has increased dramatically since June due to the ongoing Kiev-led special military operation against independence supporters. Several thousand people cross the Ukrainian-Russian border every day, with more than 50 Russian regions hosting the refugees. The majority of them arrive in the Rostov region, where about 30,000 Ukrainian citizens have already been placed.
According to the recent estimates by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), about 110,000 people have fled Ukraine for Russia since the beginning of the crisis.
Kiev launched a military operation in a crackdown on independence supporters in southeast Ukraine mid-April. Moscow repeatedly condemned the move, which has led to numerous casualties, calling it a punitive act and urging Kiev authorities to stop the bloodshed.
