Pavel Astakhov: number of Ukrainian refugees registered in Russia is close to 170,000

As of July 8, the number of refugees from Ukraine registered in Russia reached more than 167,000 people. This was reported by Pavel Astakhov, the Russian Children's Ombudsman under the President of the Russian Federation.

Astakhov presented the new data with reference to the Office of the Commissioner for Ukrainian citizens arriving in Russia.

"At present, 54 regions of the Russian Federation are accommodating refugees, forced migrants and all the people who leave Ukraine to run away from war and destruction. The total number of such persons registered by state authorities of the Russian Federation amounts to 167,636, including 54,888 people who stay in temporary accommodation centres (TACs), institutions, holiday houses, sanatoria, and children's health care camps," Pavel Astakhov wrote today on his page on Instagram.

Meanwhile, on July 7, during a briefing in the Cabinet of Ministers, Vladimir Groisman, the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister, announced that residents of the cities of the Donetsk Region began returning to their homes.

"The situation has changed in terms of the direction of people's flow. At present, we see the reverse process, when people are coming back to the city of Slavyansk and other cities that have been liberated from terrorists and bandits," the Ukrainian UNIAN News Agency quotes Vladimir Groisman as saying.