Nearly 50,000 Syrian Christians are ready to apply for the Russian citizenship to avoid the oncoming humanitarian crisis, a Russian reporter to Syria Ankhar Kochneva told Radio Golos Rossii.
She said that nearly 200,000 Christians live in Damascus Kalamun province that is facing a humanitarian crisis.
"The province sheltered nearly 20,000 refugees from Homs and Hoser where rebels held military actions. Since Kalamun was a tourism-oriented town, the local residents have been left jobless. Part of them are not refugees and do not fall under jurisdiction of the ICRC and the RCRC. They receive no aid, have no money, no food," the reporter said.
The panic is growing among the local population. "They are afraid that rebels will attack the villages like it happened in the town of Maaloula. Many residents had to take arms to protect their homes. We talked to them. They really pin big hopes with Russia," Kochneva said.