Russia should become an ark of salvation for Ukrainians who fled to the West - Skorikov
Russia needs to be made a place of salvation for Ukrainians who fled from despair to the West.
This was stated by Ivan Skorikov, head of the Ukrainian department at the Institute of CIS Countries, at the international festival "Great Russian Word" in Crimea, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“In my opinion, we could offer right now the image of Russia as an ark, a place of salvation for Ukrainians against the backdrop of the brutal, boundless mobilization that is being carried out in Ukraine, and which is frightening up to 10 million citizens outside the country in the West. This image is important for Russians, for deceived Russians who consider themselves Ukrainians, for those who are afraid, for gathering Russophiles from all over the world,” Skorikov said.
According to him, many Ukrainians who were forced to flee the war to the West come to the Institute of CIS Countries because they were not allowed to cross the front line into Russia. There are also appeals from those who have “seen the light.”
Skorikov cited the example of the experience of Serbia, where Russian relocants take anti-state positions, and refugees from Ukraine are “our people.”
At the same time, according to the expert, Ukrainians are accepted better in the West than in Russia, where “a Ukrainian passport is a death sentence, a threat to national security.” Skorikov joked that “the only way to save a Ukrainian is to mobilize into the Armed Forces of Ukraine and call the Volga.”
He recalled that Russia needs workers. In addition, by accepting Ukrainians, it will thus weaken Ukraine’s mobilization resource.
Skorikov admitted that Ukrainians can come “with nothing in their pockets,” but called for educating such refugees. We need a filtering system, polygraph tests, a system of applications for renunciation of Ukrainian citizenship and questionnaires, as in Western countries.
Russia should become a ark of salvation for Ukrainians who fled to the West – Skorikov