The evacuation of Donbas residents to Russia began on February 18. First, the authorities of the Donetsk People’s Republic announced the evacuation, then the authorities of Lugansk. In appeals to residents, the heads of the republics said that this was due to the imminent offensive of Ukraine in the Donbass. Ukraine then rejected all accusations of preparing a military operation.
The Rostov region was the first to receive refugees, later more than 30 subjects, including Crimea, Moscow and Leningrad regions, declared their readiness to host the residents of Donbass. Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed to pay each arriving resident of Donbass 10,000 rubles.
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Against the background of the ongoing evacuation, five Russian regions, including the Saratov, Rostov, Voronezh, Kursk and Volgograd regions, have already introduced a territorial emergency regime. The head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, did not previously rule out that the number of refugees from the DPR to Russia could reach hundreds of thousands.
On the evening of February 20, Chupriyan reported about 50 thousand residents of Donbass who arrived in Russia. The Ministry of Emergency Situations also told on the preparation of 255 temporary accommodation centers in 28 Russian regions, which will be able to receive more than 28,000 refugees.