MOSCOW, November 1. /TASS/. The preferential regime of stay in Russia for Ukrainian nationals, which provided for extending the period of stay in Russia without a work license, a temporary residence permit or residence permit, has expired. The press service of Russia’s Federal Migration Service (FMS) told TASS that this did not apply to refugees from the Donbass region, the rest of Ukrainian citizens staying in Russia will have to determine their legal status before the end of this month.

"In 2015, the migration service has repeatedly extended the period of temporary stay in Russia for all Ukrainian citizens on humanitarian considerations. The last extension deadline expired on October 31. In this regard, Ukrainian citizens staying in Russia should get in touch with Russia’s Federal Migration Service between November 1 and November 30 to determine their legal status. An exception has been made for Ukrainian citizens who arrived urgently en masse from the country’s southeastern regions. For them, the migration rules remain unchanged," the FMS said.

According to the Federal Migration Service, currently there are about 2,6 million Ukrainian nationals in Russia, more than 1 million of them are residents of Ukraine’s southeastern regions. Since April 2014, more than 400,000 Ukrainian citizens have applied for temporary asylum or refugee status and 265,000 - for temporary residence permits.

The preferential regime of stay in Russia for Ukrainian nationals was introduced last year following the escalation of the situation in the country and the beginning of the armed conflict in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. After that, thousands of people from the war-torn Donbass region fled to Russia.