UKRAINE-CRISIS/REFUGEES Ukrainians flee into Russia to escape new wave of fighting in east

Record ID: 274727

  • Title: UKRAINE-CRISIS/REFUGEES Ukrainians flee into Russia to escape new wave of fighting in east
  • Date: 28th January 2015
  • Summary: ROSTOV REGION, RUSSIA (JANUARY 28, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF DISPLACED PERSONS FROM UKRAINE WALKING TOWARDS ENTRANCE TO REFUGEE CAMP, ENTERING BUILDING REFUGEES IN ROOM / TWO MEN BRINGING IN PARTS OF METAL BED, STARTING TO ASSEMBLE IT MEN ASSEMBLING BED TWO TEENAGERS CARRYING PARTS OF METAL BEDS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) PIONEER REFUGEE CAMP IN ROSTOV REGION DIRECTOR, SVETLAN
  • Embargoed: 12th February 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA16X6AQ4E8QA41UBJV3E2KI2OH
  • Story Text: The director of a centre that takes in residents of eastern Ukraine told Reuters on Wednesday (January 28) the number of people fleeing to a Russian border region to escape violence has sharply increased.
    Workers at the Pioneer centre in the village of Primorka near Rostov set up beds in buildings to house the displaced people from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of neighbouring Ukraine.
    Despite the activity, displaced people dined silently in the centre café, and children studied at neatly-arranged desks in a makeshift classroom.
    Svetlana Dobrovolskaya said dozens of new people have arrived since Monday (January 26), fleeing the violence in the embattled region.
    "Today there are 256 people in the camp. Here we definitely have felt the influx of refugees, because there was a third floor in the camp which we were not going to open, but in the past 24 hours we've repaired the heating and moved people in there. Over the past two days 51 persons arrived here. It's rather a lot. Twelve of them are children of various ages, very many old people. Mainly they are from the Donetsk region, a few from Mariupol, and even fewer from Luhansk (region). Mainly from Donetsk region," she said.
    Dobrovolskaya said some of the refugees could be men fleeing mobilisation into the Ukrainian armed forces.
    "I would not say how many, but there are such men. They left places in Donetsk region where the National Guard are located and the draft is under way, and they leave these places in order not to join the National Guard, yes, we have those as well," she said.
    Pro-Russian separatist forces said on Tuesday (January 27) they had pushed Ukrainian government troops out of two districts on the outskirts of their main stronghold Donetsk, and their aim was to expand their control to the entire region.
    A rebel advance launched last week has dashed a five-month truce, reignited a war that has killed more than 5,000 people and brought threats of new sanctions on Moscow, which NATO accuses of backing the separatists with money, arms and troops.
    The UN estimates more than 600,000 people have been displaced by fighting in eastern Ukraine, either within the country or forced to flee abroad.
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