After the president signed the decree on May 1st, it became clear that not only citizens with the DPR and LPR passports could obtain Russian citizenship but even those Ukrainians who were born in and permanently reside in Crimea, but left the peninsula before its reunification with Russia, those who at the time of the proclamation of the people's republics of Donbass fled from war, those who have a temporary residence permit or a permanent residence permit in Russia, a refugee certificate, a certificate that grants temporary asylum, or those who have benefited from the state program for the voluntary resettlement of compatriots. The decrees have been signed. Their main motive is clearly humanitarian. They're intended to help people who speak and think in Russian and who were persecuted by the former Kiev regime for doing so.
The new president, Zelensky, said that this decision wouldn't improve the relations between the countries. But instead of offering something to residents of Donbass, he promised to issue Ukrainian passports to Russians. If such a gesture of exchanging passports is a way to become closer, then Moscow doesn't mind it.
Vladimir Putin: "It's simple — if Ukraine issues passports to Russians and Russia issues passports to Ukrainians sooner or later we will have the inevitable result — everyone will have joint citizenship. That's to be welcomed. [In Ukrainian] Goodbye".
About the fate of those whom Kiev refused to consider to be part of Ukraine — see a report by Alexander Bilibov.
He's been riding a kart since he was nine. Before the war, he won everything he could in the junior league both in Donbass and Ukraine. Now Vlad can only show his skills to customers of the hypermarket in the parking lot of which he occasionally trains. He doesn't have any other place to do so. When the southeast burst into flames, he chose the latter between his home and the big sport. But now, he doesn't have to choose.
Medyanik Vladislav and the flag of the Donetsk People's Republic.
- The flag is about to change, right?
Medyanik Vladislav: "I hope so, and I'm waiting for this. If I have the passport, there'll be the championship of Russia, possibilities, competitions".
From now on, everyone who lives in Donbass will be able to realize their potential as well as exercise their basic civil and universal rights. This is the main meaning of the decree signed by Vladimir Putin on the simplified procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship for the residents of the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics. This is the central department of the DPR migration service: people began to gather here a few hours before its opening. For now, this is the only place in the republic where you can apply for a Russian passport. They had to collect a whole pile of documents and certificates before, as well as fulfill a number of conditions. Now, the intermediate steps have disappeared from the procedure, such asthe need for a long stay in Russia, a permit for temporary residence, obtaining a residence permit, and so on. The term for consideration of applications was also shortened: from over six months to less than 3 months.
"One person for the filing of the application".
As early as next week, only in the DPR, the migration service will be able to process up to 4,000 applications per week. They are ready for the inrush.
Vladimir Krasnoshchoka, migration department: "We will again enlarge staff and train them. We expect one application will be processed in no longer than 15 minutes".
Sergey Efanov lost both of his legs protecting his native land from Bandera men and defending the right for his children to speak Russian.
Sergey Efanov: "I'm not saying that people here will get Russian passports and immediately go to Russia. No, of course not. They'll stay here but they will know there's someone else protecting them".
A paramedic from Lugansk, Yekaterina Chubakova, went through the entire war working in an ambulance. She took out the wounded right from under fire. She says if herself: "I'm Russian deep inside but my home is here".
Yekaterina Chubakova: "I had the opportunity to get a Russian passport, I decided to take this chance".
In Lugansk, applications for Russian passports will be considered starting Monday. From the republics' migration centers, the application will be sent to Russia. Special departments of the Ministry of the Interior have already been opened in the town of Novoshakhtinsk and in the village of Pokrovskoye in Rostov Oblast. The former will receive applications from the LPR, the latter from the DPR. Their location was chosen like this on purpose — the border and several crossing points are very close. So the delivery of documents shouldn't take much time.
These are the first applications for admission to citizenship in the Russian Federation. These are right from Donetsk. For the convenience of the residents of the Donbass, they will be delivered by authorized representatives. The residents themselves will have to come here only at the end of the procedure in order to register their fingerprints, to take an oath in the next room, and, of course, personally to get the passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation.
After it became known about the simplified process for obtaining Russian citizenship for those who now live in Donbass, many of those who left from there to our country during the war, but have not yet become citizens, wondered what they should do about it. They had their answer on May 1st. The new decree by Vladimir Putin allowed a wider range of people to use the simplified procedure for obtaining citizenship.
"Now we have a chance to live a normal life".
The playground at the church in Rostov is Irina's and her four daughters' favorite place for walks. They've been in Russia for five years already but no one, even the youngest sister, who was born in Russia, has citizenship.
"Since I am a foreign citizen, we cannot get citizenship for our children. I can't work here since I don't have a work permit and we have to pay for the permit".
There are a lot of people like Irina who have been pounding the pavement for five years. People who talk and think in Russian are our brothers and sisters and they finally can be sure of their and their children's future.
Alexander Bilibov, Veronika Bogma, Dmitry Vishkevich, Andrey Kharitonov, Andrey Rudenko, Olga Alenkina, Yekaterina Bobkova, Vesti.
