US State Department too blind to see 12,500 Ukrainian refugees in Russia

The U.S. State Department does not believe the reports about tens of thousands of refugees, who flee to Russia from their homes in the south-east of Ukraine.

In response to a question at a press briefing of whether Washington believes that Russian reports of enormous amounts of refugees from Ukraine are incorrect, U.S. State Department spokesman Marie Harf said, "Yes, incorrect."

The diplomat also said that according to the OSCE, on June 20th, "a military convoy of unknown origin was seen near Luhansk, which included tanks and armored personnel carriers." In addition, Harf referred to photographs of a multiple rocket launcher Grad that had been destroyed near Luhansk. Both Russia and Ukrainian armies have such systems in service.

"Thus, there is a lot of information that tanks and multiple rocket launchers cross the Ukrainian border," Harf said. At the same time, the spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department could not provide any evidence to prove that, Interfax reports. 

Meanwhile, representatives for the Russian EMERCOM said that more than 12,500 refugees from Ukraine had been accommodated in temporary locations in Russian regions. To help the people, the department has organized more than 200 points of temporary residence. First deputy head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Sergei Shlyakov, stressed out that almost 49 percent of the total number of refugees were children.