Thousands of Crimean refugees flee to mainland to escape Russia

[Tommy_Carcetti]

Source: Kyiv Post

As Russian troops invaded on Feb. 27, many people fled, with the flow increasing after a March 16 Kremlin-orchestrated referendum was held to ratify Russia’s seizure of Ukrainian territory.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said Ukraine’s mainland is ready to accept and accommodate up to 23,000 refugees. Temporary shelters for displaced Crimeans have been organized in Lviv, Lutsk, Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk and other Ukrainian cities.

According to Ukrainian Social Policy Minister Liudmyla Denisova, some 3,600 Crimeans have already applied for state help to regional coordination centers as of March 25, with a third of them in Lviv and another third of them in Ivano-Frankivsk.

Besides the government relocation centers, many people are volunteering to take Crimean refugees into their homes. Some 150 Crimeans have already registered in the Kyiv Coordination Center for Crimean refugees, founded by the Ukrainian government on March 20. Some 50 have already been placed in old sanatoriums that belong to Kyiv city enterprises.


Read more: http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/thousands-of-crimean-refugees-flee-to-mainland-to-escape-russia-341150.html

[djean111]

1. Hope it is handled better than the horrific partition of India or the Bangladesh Liberation War.

Millions and millions dead.
Was unaware that now all countries' boundaries are set in stone.

[CFLDem]

2. Good choice on their part. nt

[former9thward]

26. Why is it a good choice?

Russia has a higher minimum wage, lower retirement age (60 for men, 55 for women) and pensions are triple what Ukraine's are. Why should Crimeans live in the economic basket case called Ukraine?

[CFLDem]

27. Russia is clearly devolving into a fascist totalitarian state.

In a few years it won't be such a sweet place to live.

[strikeforce]

28. young man

don't be so naive.

[Lasher]

3. This casts doubt on the assumption that Crimeans decided this in a fair vote.

Last edited Fri Mar 28, 2014, 07:22 PM - Edit history (1)

I have been thinking that most of them really did want to become part of Russia but now I am having my doubts about that.

[Adrahil]

5. You mean...

Occupying a country, and holding a hasty referendum on it's seceding and joining the occupying power might not be legit? I'm shocked, SHOCKED I tell you.

FWIW, I suspect a majority of Crimeans WOULD support such a move. But the Kremlin, and its cheerleaders here have been very quick to ignore the very real concerns of the pro-Ukrainian minority. I mean, screw those people if there is a good chance to bash the US of A!

[MBS]

12. " " " " n/t

[uhnope]

13. I don't think Crimeans would choose to be swallowed by Russia under normal circumstances

For example, the same referendum, with months to debate it, with no Russian invasion around them. I just don't think so. And I know ethnic-Russian Ukrainians who agree. They recognize Putin is a dictator in the old school mold, and the specter of Stalin and Hitler is strong with them

[Adrahil]

23. You may be quite right..... but we'll never know since Pootie decided to just take it. nt

[7962]

15. But, but, the US invaded Iraq and this is EXACTLY the same thing!

Thank goodness President Obama can see through that nonsense

[Xithras]

8. There's no serious question that the majority of Crimeans wanted this.

The 96% thing is a bit questionable, but the Crimeans have attempted to gain their independence in the past, and have been swatted down by force or threats. Even with that history in place, the Crimeans have been regularly protesting against what they see as a Ukrainian "occupation" since the mid 2000's, and even managed to chase off the U.S. Marines a number of years ago when an attempted joint Ukraine/NATO naval exercise in Crimea led to riots and massive protests. The Russian Crimeans are a majority, and they aren't big fans of Ukraine. They rebelled when they did because they saw Maidan as a moment of Ukrainian weakness and grabbed the opportunity.

I don't consider the vote to be "legitimate" because it happened under an occupation, but I have NO doubt that the result would have been the same even if the Russians had left and the referendum had been handled freely.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

9. The question is...

....why was the vote rushed like that?

IIRC, there was already a vote scheduled on Crimean independence (not Russian annexation) before the change in power in Kiev.

So why was there a sudden rush?

[Xithras]

10. For the same reason that it resulted in a 96% Yes vote.

Moscow wanted to make absolutely sure that it would fall into their hands. In all probability it would have ended up there anyway, but Putin isn't much of a gamber. Why play 90% odds when you can cheat and make it a sure thing?

Crimea had a vote scheduled for independence, but leaders in the Crimean parliament had already stated that a union with Russia would follow. There was little interest in making Crimea a fully independent nation. Still, there WAS a possibility, no matter how small, that the Crimeans could vote for independence and then simply choose to stay that way. The Russian government rigged the odds to eliminate that possibility.

There is no question that the vote was rigged to benefit Russia.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

11. Much like Richard Nixon and Chris Christie....

.....Putin didn't want to just score a touchdown; he wanted to waltz into the end zone.

And yes, while I am hesitant to draw comparisons between Vladimir Putin and Hitler or Stalin, I have no problem whatsoever comparing him to Nixon and Christie.

[uhnope]

14. I have strong doubt. I know ethnic Russians in Ukraine

and they oppose Putin as an old-school dictator like they've suffered under too often in history

[former9thward]

25. The population of Crimea is two million.

A few thousand leaving is about 1/10 of 1%. Most did want to join Russia.

[Lasher]

31. Best answer.

It is inevitable that some Crimeans would share sentiments of Ukrainians in the west. Such a small number of them is relatively insignificant.

[cosmicone]

4. They will go back when the austerity hits n/t

[Adrahil]

6. We'll see. Russia's economy is mess. It's not like they have money to spare, really.

No doubt Pootie will lavish his new toys with attention and money for a while (no doubt at the expense of others), but the money will only go so far. He's got a military to rebuild!

[swilton]

7. Not surprising story

given that (per Wikkepedia) this is an English speaking source and therefore has a Western biased audience. It doesn't say on the other hand how many from Kiev or the Western parts of the Ukraine are going to flee to the Eastern and pro-Russian southeast. There will no doubt be some cross migration as this unfolds.. It is recognized that Ukraine is divided between Russian and Western (Polish-Ukrainian) groups and the destabilization has afflicted both groups.

[rdharma]

17. Strange that's being discussed, eh? nt

[rdharma]

16. When is the Ukrainian military going to release their Crimean conscripts?

Just wondering. kyivpost probably won't address that question.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

18. Link?

Not saying it didn't happen, I'm saying I haven't heard about it.

But while we are on the subject, when is Russia going to return Ukrainian military equipment it seized after taking over Crimea?

[rdharma]

19. Of course you haven't heard about it...... if you only listen to the RW corporatist media.

The Ukrainians who were stationed in Crimea have been allowed to return to Ukraine. Why not the Crimean conscripts stationed in Ukraine?

Hostages?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

20. Again, link? nt

[rdharma]

21. Look it up yourself. Google is your friend in this case....... nt

[Tommy_Carcetti]

22. I did. I couldn't find anything myself.

Since you were the one who mentioned it, do you have a link to substantiate your claims? Or is it et ex posterioribus?

[strikeforce]

29. way to stay on him tommy !

[SunSeeker]

30. LOL!

[uhnope]

24. you mean "Anything that isn't Russia Today" is RW corporatist media

it's middle of the night in Moscow, you might need some coffee