departure.” The court ignored the attorney’s arguments that following the court’s instructions concerning independent departure would entail criminal liability for L. because of his lack of documents and that there would be a real threat to L.’s life and health in light of the continuing military actions in Luhansk. Instead, the court insisted that L. had to leave Russia. L. was released, but without valid identity documents, he cannot gain legal status in Russia or leave the country. Stateless persons and de facto stateless persons continue to be caught in a legal impasse.32 Of particular concern are cases where Ukrainian citizens are expelled directly to the territory of the breakaway “people’s republics,” even though Ukraine does not confirm the citizenship of people from non-government controlled territories who face expulsion. Information that the authorities of these “republics” issue certificates of return at the request of Russian authorized bodies similar to those issued by certain states for entry into their territory needs to be confirmed. It should be noted that Russia is generally reluctant to grant refugee status and temporary asylum: as of January 1, 2018, only 592 refugees were registered in Russia; of these, 166 were from Ukraine33 (this is the lowest indicator for Russia over the past 10 years). According to statistics as of January 1, 2018, the number of foreign citizens who received temporary asylum was much higher at 125,422 people,34 most of whom were migrants from Ukraine (123,434 people), but this number is half of what it was in 2017. Temporary asylum is only granted for one year. After this, people must apply to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for an extension—a complicated procedure that is basically the same as the initial application, and there is no guarantee that the extension will be granted. If a person is not successful in obtaining an extension, this person must leave Russia within one month. People who do not follow this requirement face expulsion under the law. There is a special regime for Ukrainian citizens who want to obtain asylum in Russia; this regime is regulated by RF Government Resolution No. 690 “On Granting Temporary Asylum to Ukrainian Citizens in the Russian Federation under Simplified Procedures” of July 22, 2014. People who apply for asylum must have their finger- 32 ADC Memorial archives. 33 Summary table of the Federal State Statistics Service of Russia on the number of refugees in Russia, http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/population/demo/tab-migr4.htm 34 Summary table of the Federal State Statistics Service of Russia on the number of people granted temporary asylum, Ibid. 19