RUSSIA-UKRAINE CRISIS/REFUGEE CAMP More than 56,000 Ukrainian refugees flood Rostov region say Russian officials

Record ID: 274637

  • Title: RUSSIA-UKRAINE CRISIS/REFUGEE CAMP More than 56,000 Ukrainian refugees flood Rostov region say Russian officials
  • Date: 28th August 2014
  • Summary:  DONETSK, ROSTOV REGION, RUSSIA (AUGUST 28, 2014) (REUTERS) REFUGEE CAMP ENTRANCE RUSSIAN FEDERATION FLAG AND RUSSIAN EMERGENCIES MINISTRY FLAG PEOPLE GATHERED AROUND TABLE OUTSIDE MAN HANDING OUT ITEMS FROM AID PACKAGE TO CROWD YOUNG GIRL RUNNING OFF WITH ITEM IN HER HAND MORE OF PEOPLE LOOKING THROUGH AID PACKAGE FOR ITEMS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) VICE GOVERNOR OF ROSTOV RE
  • Embargoed: 12th September 2014 13:00
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  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVADLQI26SS7U5E3US29NN0S5JFU
  • Story Text: More than 56,000 refugees from eastern Ukraine are now in Russia's Rostov region, vice governor of the Rostov region Vadim Artyomov said on Thursday (August 28).
    Russian Emergencies Ministry together with the Red Cross organised a number of refugee points in the Rostov region, bordering with Ukraine's Donbass, where pro-Russian rebels are locked in fierce battles with Ukrainian government troops.
    Most of the refugees stay with the relatives or friends, the vice governor said. However those who have nowhere to go seek shelter in the tents of the refugee camps.
    "All in all in the Rostov region we have estimated the numbers at 56,500 (of refugees). In the three field camps that are temporary housing points there are approximately 3,000 people. And in the 50 points of temporary housing that are registered in our region, we have about 2,000 (people). So in the temporary housing areas (there are) about 5,000 (refugees)," Artyomov said.
    Emergencies ministry servicemen distribute food and necessities as well as medication. According to officials, 1,800 tones of humanitarian goods have arrived at the camps so far and 1,116 tones have been distributed.
    The authorities launched a programme to place Ukrainian refugees in the other regions, sending thousands of people farther into Russia on a daily basis.
    "Work is actively now underway on forming groups that will be sent to other regions. And look, we have two special trains departing every day. So today all in all, three trains were formed in the region. Two trains tomorrow. Today - 1,400 people, tomorrow - 1,200 people," Artyomov said.
    People said they expect to get housing, work and education with the help of the Russian government's programmes.
    "Granny says, now it's booming somewhere far away. So now you can come. Granny also went to the No. 18 school to ask the headmaster. They say that the school opens on the first of October," a girl from the refugee camp said.
    "Now they are looking into our case in the Moscow region. We are in agreement. We are waiting for them to take us from here, give us work and housing and we will move on," said one of the refugees.
    "We left everything behind. We left the flat. We spent our whole life running around to get a flat. Fascists," said an elderly woman sited beside the tent.
    Officials say, if the placing of Ukraine's citizens is not completed by winter, they intend to move them to children's camps and other all-year round housing. It is hard to predict the number of new refugees, vice governor said.
    Heavy fighting which started in April continues in Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
    A United Nations report this week said more than 2,200 people have been killed, not including the 298 who died when a Malaysian airliner was shot down over rebel-held territory in July.
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