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Russia receives growing number of applications for asylum from Ukraine

Russian Federal Migration Service says about 143,000 people had applied for asylum or Russian citizenship over the ast two weeks

© ITAR-TASS/ Valery Matytsin

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MOSCOW, March 03. /ITAR-TASS/. The number of Ukrainian citizens applying for asylum in Russia has grown dramatically, Head of the Russian Federal Migration Service Konstantin Romadanovsky told Itar-Tass on Monday.

However, he warned against quick conclusions and called for discussing easier procedures for Ukrainians to obtain the Russian citizenship.

Earlier, the migration service’s head of the citizenship department Valentina Kazakova told reporters about 143,000 people had applied for asylum or Russian citizenship over the ast two weeks. She confirmed the authority will consider most promptly applications from Ukraine’s law enforcers and officials.

From beginning of 2014, Ukraine’s 675,000 citizens have entered the Russian Federation, Russia’s border authority reports.

“The Russian authorities are fixing clear evidences of a coming humanitarian catastrophe,” the report reads.

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