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Fleeing from conflict, evacuees from eastern Ukraine arrive in Russia

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Residents of eastern Ukraine territories under the control of Russian-backed separatists arrived in Russia’s southwestern city of Taganrog on Sunday after being evacuated from their home towns.
On Friday, separatist authorities announced plans to evacuate around 700 000 people, citing fears of an imminent attack by Ukrainian forces – an accusation Kyiv flatly denied.
Most people Reuters spoke to said the evacuation was fast, with some saying they did not have enough time to pack some essential belongings.
“They called us at 5.30 and at 6 o’clock there was a bus waiting for us. We just took whatever came along,” said resident of Bogdanovka Alina Melnikova.
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More than 30 000 people from Donetsk and nearby Luhansk have crossed the Russian border in the past 24 hours, TASS news agency said, quoting authorities in Russia’s Rostov region.
Some of the evacuated residents will travel to other regions of Russia that will be ready to accommodate them, according to statements by local authorities.
The renewed fighting in eastern Ukraine follows a build-up over several weeks of Russian troops to the north, east and south of the country.
The West estimates 150,000 or more Russian troops are currently near Ukraine’s borders.
Russia has demanded NATO prevent Ukraine from ever joining the alliance. It has warned of unspecified “military-technical” measures if its demands for NATO pullback from Eastern Europe are not met.
 

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