'There used to be a night club': how and where do the Ukrainians of Donbass receive Russian passports

The “New Russian Woman” from Donbass told how and where Ukrainians from the so-called DPR and LPR receive Russian passports.

Фото: Depositphotos

A few months ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree that allowed, in a special, simplified manner, the issuance of Russian passports to residents of the separatist “DPR” and “LPR,” including foreign ones. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expressed strong protest in connection with this decision and demanded that such documents not be recognized by foreign states. Some EU countries have already announced that they support Ukraine and will not recognize these documents, recalls “Currently,«.

The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs claims that as of September, more than 25 thousand residents of the so-called “DPR” and “LPR” received Russian citizenship, and more than 60 thousand people expressed a desire to receive it. On average, according to the department, about 300 passport applications are received from residents of the separatist republics per day.

All these people, upon arrival in Russia, will have to provide the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs for citizenship only with a valid passport and one of the documents confirming the right to stay (residence) in Russia. They will also need to show one of the documents confirming the birth on the territory of Donetsk and Lugansk regions.

In more detail about how the process of issuing citizenship is organized, said a resident of Lugansk. According to her, every day only from Lugansk in the direction of the uncontrolled Kiev part of the Ukrainian-Russian border leave seven special bus special flights with those wishing to obtain a Russian passport.

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“In total, seven flights a day depart from Lugansk to Novoshakhtinsk - every hour from 6 am to 12 pm inclusive,” the woman said. – People are transported in large, comfortable buses with the sign “International Transportation.” Buses depart from the railway station overpass, carrying 50 people per trip. In addition to the driver, they are accompanied by a medical worker and an accompanying group from the so-called police. The “policeman” has lists of those who are traveling by name. Only those on the list can buy a flight ticket at the ticket office. The ticket price is 450 rubles (170 hryvnia or $7).”

“I was on a flight that left at 9 am. When everyone got on the bus, the “police” officer took a roll call, and the bus left at 8:57, without expecting anyone. After departure, the “policeman” called someone and reported that the flight had left at 9 am. The same thing happened on the way back,” the passenger describes.

According to her, the road to the border checkpoint took 2 hours, and the whole way from Lugansk to Novoshakhtinsk took 3 hours.

“From the “LPR” side, we passed the Dolzhansky checkpoint very quickly. There are few people there. Customs control took an hour. They don’t check phones, they only look at things, the luggage compartment and the bottom of the bus,” the woman said. “Everything was very fast, we didn’t get off the bus.” The border guards themselves entered the salon and collected everyone’s passports. All passengers were traveling with red passports, so-called “LPR” passports. Only the medical worker and the driver had a blue (Ukrainian) passport, which surprised me very much.”

“The Lugansk “border guards” calmly reacted to Ukrainian passports, but in Novoshakhtinsk (on Russian territory) they looked at this blue passport with square eyes, as if they were terrorists. But they kept silent,” says a resident of the “LPR.”

“After the checkpoint there is a city right away. At 9 am we left, at 12 pm we were already near the Federal Migration Service (FMS), describes a resident of the separatist “LPR”. – The FMS is located on the outskirts of the city, the building has been specially renovated and is open to residents of Donbass. This building used to be a nightclub. But it was closed and everything was converted into the FMS to accept people from Lugansk. The FMS is fenced with a one and a half meter iron fence, locked. Entrance inside is by list only. If we assume that 7 flights of 50 people arrive per day, then they serve 350 people per day.”

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“When we parked near the Federal Migration Service, there were two more buses in front of us, so we were forced to wait until 15:10. At 15:10 all 50 people in our group lined up. The whole group was served very quickly - in an hour and 20 minutes. At 16.30 we were already free. Inside the FMS they took fingerprints, we took an oath, then we said congratulations and left,” she said.

According to the Hromadske TV channel, residents of the “DPR” indicate in Russian passports place of birth Krasnodar Territory.

“Out of 50 people, three were not given passports. I managed to communicate with two of them - a mother and son,” the interlocutor noted. “The woman was very upset and indignant. They live in the village of Molodogvardeyskoye, but they made a mistake in their passports and indicated their place of birth as Molodogvardeysk. Now they will have to wait again, travel and spend money on the trip.”

“At 20.00 I was already at home. “On the way back, they didn’t even check my passport,” she finished her story. – As the driver said, and I am inclined to believe him, 80% of those who go to get passports are people who already live in Russia, work, have relatives, and real estate. With the beginning of the issuance of Russian citizenship in Donbass, the opportunity arose to legalize one’s stay there, and this is being actively used. There was one woman in my group who was herself born in Lugansk, and her parents are from Russia. She lived here, and then married a St. Petersburger, and from that moment she lives in two cities - first in St. Petersburg, then in Lugansk. According to her, it is very difficult for Ukrainians who already live in Russia to obtain documents in the Russian Federation - citizenship or at least a residence permit. He says: “When you come, there are terrible queues that a person cannot even write a statement. If you make even one mistake, they cross him out and send him back in a month.” It’s either the case here: they wind you up, help you fill out an application for a passport, and do their best to meet you halfway.”

The respondent said that in her group, mostly pensioners, middle-aged people, and “not many young people” went to receive passports.

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“They come from all over the region, not only from Lugansk. There was one young doctor from the 10th clinic, about 30 years old. He said that he needed a passport in order to go to work in Russia, since it was impossible to work in Lugansk - the salary there was 6-7 thousand rubles ($94-109). And if he has Russian citizenship, he will get a job without any problems and will receive not 7 thousand ($104), but 40 thousand ($627), our interlocutor recounted the conversation. “But, meanwhile, many people leave Ukrainian passports, and some also have pensions from Ukraine.”

The woman said that if you take domestic and foreign Russian passports at once, then the price of the issue is 5900 rubles ($92,5). For Lugansk this is a large sum, but, according to her, “the whole process is organized at a high level: one can say that it was set on a grand scale, they clearly did not waste time on trifles.”

As ForumDaily wrote earlier:

• In late April, in the Russian city of Novoshakhtinsk, the Rostov Region, they began issuing passports to residents of the occupied territories Lugansk region. The representative of the General Directorate for Migration Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia Kirill Alzinov noted that 86% of the residents of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics” want to receive Russian citizenship.
• 8 May, the Ukrainian government announced that it would annul Russian passports, issued to Ukrainian citizens living in the territories not controlled by Kiev, Lugansk and Donetsk regions. Kiev will never recognize the passports of Russian citizens issued to residents of Donbass, and will make the same request to other countries, said the Prime Minister of Ukraine.
• In mid-June in the Rostov region started issuing Russian passports to Ukrainiansliving in the occupied territories of the so-called Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. According to the so-called head of the Migration Service of the DPR, Vladimir Krasnoshchek, "there are thousands of people who want to get Russian passports in Donbas."
• USA condemned the decision of Vladimir Putin simplify the issuance of Russian passports to Ukrainians living in the Russian-controlled territories of eastern Ukraine. This was stated in a statement by the US State Department. It is noted that with such provocative actions, Russia is increasing its onslaught on Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity.
• Ambassadors of the European Union discuss the issue of issuing Russian passports citizens of Ukraine. “They instructed the European Commission to study the possibility of banning entry to the EU for citizens with these passports,” said Radio Liberty correspondent in Brussels, Ricard Josvyak.
• 17 July President of Russia Vladimir Putin signed a decree, according to which not only residents of the so-called DNR and LC, but also all who lived in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Ukraine will be able to obtain Russian citizenship under the simplified procedure.

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