Thousands of Ukrainians seek asylum in Russia

MOSCOW, May 6 (Itar-Tass) - About 2,500 Ukrainian citizens have turned to the Civic Chamber of Russia for help, the forum's deputy secretary, Vladislav Grib, said on Tuesday. The situation in that country looks like “a humanitarian disaster”, Grib said, adding that the chamber's co-ordinating centre for civic assistance was examining appeals from Ukrainian regions. These were mainly requests for asylum in Russia, he said. “People are leaving their homes and moving away from Ukraine. There are tens of thousands of such people, while only some of them have turned to us. We help them to receive asylum,” he said, noting that Ukrainian refugees were granted temporary asylum since Russia had a visa-free regime with Ukraine. Russia's Civic Chamber is an advisory, consultative body established on President Vladimir Putin’s initiative to analyse draft legislation and monitor the activities of parliament, government and other state bodies. It comprises Russian citizens who have performed special services to the state and society, selected by the president. The chamber assembles academics, political scientists and economic analysts, people from the arts and culture, the legal profession, journalists, the literary world, religion, business, medicine and education. Learn more on itar-tass.com