Over 4.5 million refugees have arrived in Russia from Ukraine and the two Donbass republics since February

MOSCOW, OCT.3, (ST)-The number of refugee arrivals in Russia from Ukraine and the two Donbass republics has exceeded 4.5 million since February, a law enforcement officer told TASS on Monday.

“As of the morning of October 3, more than 4.5 million people, including 685,000 children, have crossed into Russia,” the officer said.

A total of 38,000 people are currently staying at temporary accommodation centers. Refugees receive 10,000 rubles ($170) as one-off payment per person. So far, 9.2 billion rubles ($157 million) have been paid out.

In another development, thousands of people have been lining up daily to cross into the liberated zone of the Zaporozhye Region, Vladimir Rogov, chair of the We Are Together with Russia movement, told TASS on Monday.

Liberating the region is now the top priority, he emphasized. “People over there have been living in constant fear, terror and intimidation. Hence, a growing number of people are seeking to flee to the liberated territories, that’s why they have been blocked from leaving,” Rogov explained.

“There are constantly several thousand [people] standing in line [at the checkpoint] every day,” he added.

From September 23 to September 27, the Donetsk and the Lugansk People’s Republics as well as the Kherson and the Zaporozhye Regions held referendums where the majority of voters opted to join Russia. President Vladimir Putin and the heads of the four regions signed treaties on their accession to Russia at a Kremlin-hosted ceremony on Friday.

So far, some 73% of the Zaporozhye Region has been liberated, yet the city of Zaporozhye is still under the yoke of the Kiev regime. Melitopol is currently serving as the region’s administrative center instead.

Compiled by: Basma Qaddour