Russia has spent one-tenth of its expected budget on Ukrainian refugees as some emergency accommodation sites remain empty, according to public procurement data and interviews with officials.
“Official figures say more than 1 million refugees have entered Russia, but we’re not feeling it,” Yelena Rusakova, a Moscow municipal deputy who volunteers to assist refugees, told The Moscow Times Russian Service.
Rusakova added that refugee centers in the northwestern Novgorod region remained empty, while sites in the Ryazan and Nizhny Novgorod regions east of Moscow were on the verge of closing.
Procurement data shows Russia spent 776 million rubles ($11.4 million) between March 12-May 1 instead of an allocated 7 billion rubles ($103 million) on accommodating 95,000 Ukrainian refugees.
Activists said most Ukrainians leave Russia’s temporary accommodation centers in an attempt to travel on to Europe or western Ukraine.
Several Ukrainians at a Voronezh refugee center recently said they had come to Russia because it was closer than Europe, while a member of a 5,000-member Telegram group for Ukrainian refugees seeking to leave Russia said he was given no other option.
“Many cannot and do not want to live in a country that has wiped their lives off the face of the earth,” said an unnamed lawyer who helps Ukrainian refugees.
Political analyst Konstantin Kalachev said that Moscow “overestimated the country’s appeal” even for Russian-speaking Ukrainians fleeing the war.
“Even those who were sympathetic to Russia seem to be disappointed with the special operation,” he said.
The UN estimates Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced more than 5.5 million Ukrainians to flee the country, with nearly 3 million crossing into Poland.
More than 800,000 Ukrainians have fled to Romania, 500,000 to Hungary and 400,000 to ex-Soviet Moldova.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed on April 30 that 1,062,692 people have been “evacuated’ to Russia from Ukraine and pro-Moscow republics in its southeast since the beginning of the invasion.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.
