Refugees in Russia: Myths and Reality

... because of the torrents of refugees that emerged during the last years of the Soviet Union. This event required the prompt development of a relevant legal basis and the establishment of new migration service structures, since during the Soviet period, immigration was limited and severely controlled by the state. Refugees were quite rare at this time [4] . . Applications for asylum had been possible only on political and ideological grounds. Following the breakdown of the USSR, Russia became the second largest immigration destination after the United States. ...