The information war between Russia and Ukraine continued this week,
with Russia claiming a humanitarian crisis on its border, while Ukraine
denied that a flood of refugees was fleeing the conflict-torn country.
Thousands of eastern Ukrainians fled to Russia this week, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday, ordering deputy prime ministers Igor Shuvalov and Dmitry Kozak to deal with the situation.
"People are frightened, and Ukrainian officials do not admit that there are humanitarian problems, talking about the absence of refugees. This is a lie, it is sad to hear it all," he said at a government meeting.
The alleged refugee crisis prompted local authorities in Russia's southern Rostov region to declare an emergency situation in nine districts bordering Ukraine. Various state facilities, including children's summer camps, are ready to host up to 2,623 Ukrainians with psychologists on site and five meals a day — all for free — the regional administration said in a statement on its website. As of Thursday, 437 Ukrainians were staying in such facilities, it said.
But the correspondent of the opposition-minded Novaya Gazeta newspaper on the ground in Rostov-on-Don said that "these numbers are greatly exaggerated."
"These Ukrainians get 21-day holiday vouchers with the whole thing arranged by [Ukraine's self-proclaimed separatist] Donetsk People's Republic," Viktoria Makarenko said in a telephone interview.
Read nore: Russia Declares Emergency Over Ukrainian 'Refugees,' Ukraine Denies Reports | News | The Moscow Times
Thousands of eastern Ukrainians fled to Russia this week, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday, ordering deputy prime ministers Igor Shuvalov and Dmitry Kozak to deal with the situation.
"People are frightened, and Ukrainian officials do not admit that there are humanitarian problems, talking about the absence of refugees. This is a lie, it is sad to hear it all," he said at a government meeting.
The alleged refugee crisis prompted local authorities in Russia's southern Rostov region to declare an emergency situation in nine districts bordering Ukraine. Various state facilities, including children's summer camps, are ready to host up to 2,623 Ukrainians with psychologists on site and five meals a day — all for free — the regional administration said in a statement on its website. As of Thursday, 437 Ukrainians were staying in such facilities, it said.
But the correspondent of the opposition-minded Novaya Gazeta newspaper on the ground in Rostov-on-Don said that "these numbers are greatly exaggerated."
"These Ukrainians get 21-day holiday vouchers with the whole thing arranged by [Ukraine's self-proclaimed separatist] Donetsk People's Republic," Viktoria Makarenko said in a telephone interview.
Read nore: Russia Declares Emergency Over Ukrainian 'Refugees,' Ukraine Denies Reports | News | The Moscow Times
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