Russia takes in over 4.7 mln refugees from Ukraine, Donbass since Feb - Emergency Situations Ministry

MOSCOW. Nov 18 (Interfax) - Over 4.7 million refugees from Ukraine and Donbass have arrived in Russia to date, Russian Deputy Emergency Situations Minister Anatoly Suprunovsky said.

"According to the Russian Federal Security Service's Border Service, more than 4.79 million persons, including over 712,000 children, have arrived in the Russian territory via checkpoints," Suprunovsky said at a meeting of the all-Russia Coordination Council of Human Rights Commissioners on Friday.

More than 850 temporary accommodation centers are operating in 59 regions of Russia, and over 41,000 refugees, among them more than 12,000 children, live there, Suprunovsky said.

A total of 11 billion rubles have been paid as benefits to displaced persons from Ukraine, Donbass, and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, Suprunovsky said. "Over 1.19 million people have applied for one-off benefits, and a total of 11.1 billion rubles have been paid," he said.

Convoys have delivered over 152,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid to the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, Suprunovsky said.