During the Russian Civil War (1917–1922) and after the introduction of communism in Russia, a large number of people (according to various assessments more than a million), supporters of the former Tsarist regime or opponents of Bolshevism, left Russia and emigrated abroad. This exodus resulted in the Russian refugee crisis, as humanitarian organisations and the countries these refugees migrated to were ill-equipped to receive so many people. The Russian refugees thus mostly lived in poverty and scarcity without any legal protection. Such circumstances gave rise to the first significant attempts to manage the crisis and find ways to ensure the international protection of refugees. Formal international efforts to help the Russian refugees began in 1921 when the International Committee of the Red Cross asked the League of Nations for assistance. Larger organised groups of Russian emigrants also arrived in the Kingdom of SHS. They represented a huge burden for the country, especially given the local economic situation. The contribution thus thoroughly examines how these emigrants were treated and integrated into the society, especially in view of the humanitarian aid and the resolution of their legal status.