You're reading: RFE/RL: More Russians seeking US asylum

WASHINGTON – The number of new U.S. asylum applications by Russian citizens has jumped for the fourth straight year in 2016, reaching the highest level in more than two decades and more than doubling since President Vladimir Putin’s return to the Kremlin for a third term.

Russian citizens filed 1,912 new U.S. asylum application in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, up 31 percent compared to 2015 and 164 percent since 2012, when Putin was again elected president following a four-year stint as prime minister, new official statistics show.

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