Donetsk, Feb 16 - DAN. More than 21,600 residents of the Donetsk People’s Republic have obtained Russian passports since the beginning of this year, the DPR Interior Ministry Migration Service told the Donetsk News Agency on Tuesday.
“As many as 21,668 people have got Russian Federation passports since early 2021; 14,955 people have applied for Russian citizenship this year,” it said.
Russian foreign travel passports were issued to 7,926 DPR residents, according to the Migration Service.
Overall, 215,519 people in the Donetsk People’s Republic have got Russian passports and 237,215 have applied for Russian citizenship since June 2019.
On April 24, 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the degree on determining groups of foreign nationals eligible to obtain Russian citizenship under a simplified procedure. Donbass Republics residents have to travel to Russia’s Rostov region to collect their Russian passports. Four passport centres operate in the Kuibyshevo and Pokrovskoye villages, Rodionovo-Nesvetaiskaya settlement and the Matveyev Kurgan township.*jk