Since the beginning of the armed conflict in Ukraine more than one million people have become refugees, settling either in Russia or in other regions of Ukraine. Many Russian regions have created headquarters run by the heads of the regions, or the deputy governors, or the chairmen of the governments of various regions. This, according to member of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, Alexander Totoonov, defines the high standards of responsibility of the organization of the activities carried out there.
"But I think that even that probably would not be enough if all of this was not accompanied by this sincere compassion and true sympathy, that has really come back to life in our society. And I believe that for all of us, these years, on the one hand, became a demonstration of the trouble that may suddenly come, but, on the other hand, we finally must have awakened once again those very necessary notes, those essential qualities, which have always distinguished the Russian people, Russian citizens. And I think that, on the edge of all of this, the work which has been associated with the organization of everyday life, the resettlement of people who came from the regions of the southeast of Ukraine, has resumed," he believes.
According to Totoonov, the number of temporary accommodation centers has been steadily declining, as has the number of people living in them. "Today, the vast majority of the immigrants from the regions of southeastern Ukraine here are living according to this practical constant, this permanent hope of returning home. Of course, we all live in hope that the fragile peace that has formed in these regions for some time will finally stabilize the overall situation. And our main task will likely be to return people to their native places, and I think it would probably be the greatest reward for all of us," the senator thinks.
Comparing the situation with the processes that have shaken Europe in recent years, that felt the first wave of migrants, Totoonov stated: "Compared to this, of course, we certainly worked very well and accurately. We have grown into a very cohesive and well-functioning mechanism, which is now known. Especially those who are responsible for specific areas. How and on what response accurately, timely, where and how to be in time. We have travelled through almost all the territories, visited hundreds, thousands of places where immigrants from Ukraine are temporarily located today. That is why this whole situation is familiar to us not by hearsay. We have, so to speak, measured it by foot, and watched all of it closely. So I think it has allowed us to create all the conditions for our actions to be verified, accurate and, most importantly, useful to those people."
