More than 500,000 people flee fighting in Ukraine

More than 500,000 people flee fighting in Ukraine

MOSCOW -- Since April 1, more than 500,000 refugees from the war torn eastern part of Ukraine have arrived in the Russian Federation.

Russian immigration services chief Konstantin Romodanovsky explained that 80 percent of them are in the border zone between the two countries, and that the wave has not subsided.

Russian authorities have opened 400 centers for reception for refugees, mostly in Rostov-on-Don.

"Many want to return home when the conflict is over, but an increasing number of families are coming to Russia in order to stay," said Ela Pamfilova, a representative of the Department of Human Rights.

Romodanovsky did not rule out the possibility that some refugees - mostly ethnic Russians - will seek citizenship, while authorities in Moscow are considering whether to allow them this under facilitated procedure.

"Russia lacks the population and labor force. And here we have several tens of thousands of people who are close to our mentality, language and culture," said one Russian analyst.

The cost for the reception of refugees has so far been paid by regional authorities, but the government now decided to set aside EUR 74 million for this purpose.

"The government has allocated a total of RUB 4.9 billion (EUR 105 million) to help the refugees. This is a significant amount," Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev commented recently.