Donetsk, Jun 12 – DAN. Nearly 40,000 people gathered in central Donetsk for Russia Day celebration, said DPR correspondent.

People are carrying Russian flags and many were taking photos with a man-size mock-up of a Russian passport installed in the Pervomaisk square as a nationwide campaign of collecting and filing documents for Russian citizenship is under way.

"This is our holiday, we are all happy. I don't feel Ukrainian, we are all Russians," said one of the participants of the rally Tayana.*ot