INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
shelling attacks intensified near her home.After arriving, she was able to receive Russian citizenship fairly quickly, she told The Moscow
Times, under a simplified process for Ukrainians.Although Tatiana, who declined to provide her last name for safety reasons, acknowledged
have fled eastward from the fighting to Russia rather than towards Europe, often because they had no other option.Some of these people, like
Tatiana, appear to have voluntarily chosen to relocate to Russia
For the rest, there are growing concerns that Russian authorities may be compelling them to stay in the country waging war on their homeland
because they have strong ties to Russia and speak Russian fluently, making it easier to integrate into the local community.MTLike Tatiana, a
to become citizens, making it easier for them to acquire a Russian passport than to obtain official refugee status, said Nikolai Voroshilov,
press secretary of the Civic Assistance Committee.Another Ukrainian refugee who moved to Moscow and who declined to share her name told The
Moscow Times that she had also applied for Russian citizenship.But while some Ukrainians plan to stay in Russia, many others hope to move
elsewhere as soon as possible.Many Ukrainians only sought refuge in neighboring Russia in a desperate attempt to escape the war,
humanitarian activists say.Several chat groups on the Telegram messaging app have been created specifically for Ukrainians in Russia seeking
"We say that they are not coming to Russia, but [rather] they are coming from the war zone.""We have never encountered complaints of anyone
being forcibly taken out, but it is true that many found themselves with no choice but to leave," Voroshilov said.According to media
reports, Human Rights Watch and the United States State Department, thousands of Ukrainian refugees have been forced to undergo
Numerous rights abuses have been reported during this process.United Nations investigators accused Moscow in March of the forced transfer
more than 700,000 Ukrainian children since the start of the war.Some refugees who have arrived in Russia appeared to have been influenced or
Svetlana Gannushkina, who is also the head of the Civic Assistance Committee
At some point, there was only one road out of the war zone
[Russia]."A man at a temporary accommodation facility in the town of Volkhov for evacuees from Ukraine's partially Russian-occupied Donetsk,
Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.Alexander Demianchuk / TASS Gannushkina recalled some refugees telling her that they knew about
Russia because they had watched Russian state television, which regularly paints a distorted picture of realities inside Russia."They
portrays Russia as a safe haven and a new home for Ukrainians, encouraging integration and working to create a perception that staying in
obtain citizenship was a shock for us
facilitate the integration of Ukrainians who fled to Russia, the Russian government grants Ukrainian refugees access to free emergency
medical services, as well as vaccinations, check-ups and appointments with local doctors at state clinics and hospitals.Russia has spent a
total of around 14.1 billion rubles ($153.9 million) on refugees arriving from Ukraine, TASS reported in May, citing a source in the
housing in Russia is often a challenge for arriving Ukrainians
to provide assistance and support for this, as well.At the beginning of the war, many people were seeking assistance for basic needs such as
food and clothes, activists said, whereas most of the aid provided today tends to focus on more specialized needs like obtaining
