 According to official NKVD documents, over 15,000 Romanians from Northern Bukovina were deported to Siberia in 1940 alone.The Soviet action culminated with the Fântâna Albă massacre when 2,500 to 3,000 Romanian refugees who were attempting to leave Northern Bukovina for Romania were blocked by the USSR Border Troops and about 200 of them were shot, at a place called "Fântâna Albă" ("White Fountain" in Romanian).This policy resulted in a substantial shrinkage of the Romanian population in the province.