Some 2.5 Million Refugees Arrive in Russia Since Escalation of Donbass Conflict

Russia accepted 2.5 million refugees from Ukraine since the beginning of Kiev's military operation in Donbass, the deputy chairperson of the Federation Council, the Russian upper house of parliament, said Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The migration flows from Ukraine intensified in April 2014, when Donbass residents' refusal to recognize the new Ukrainian authorities, which came to power as a result of what many consider to be a coup, triggered Kiev's violent response.

“Europe has accepted and is convulsing from 900,000, while we accepted 2.5 million refugees,” Yury Vorobiev said.

In October 2016, managing director of the People’s Republic of Donetsk (DPR) Ombudsman administration Dmitry Popov said it was not only military actions that caused the forced displacement, but also the persecution of civilians supporting DPR by the Ukrainian authorities.

The attempts to settle the crisis were undertaken as part of the Minsk agreements brokered by Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine which implied the establishment of the ceasefire regime in southeastern Ukraine. Despite the agreements, the parties to the conflict still continue mutual accusations of the regime violations.