Donetsk Residents Spend 1 Week Waiting To Apply For Russian Passports

The number of people wanting to get a Russian passport at the regional offices of the Migration Service of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) continues to grow, with wait times to file the necessary documents now up to one week

DONETSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th May, 2019) The number of people wanting to get a Russian passport at the regional offices of the Migration Service of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) continues to grow, with wait times to file the necessary documents now up to one week.

On April 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree that made it easier for residents of the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk (DPR and LPR) to obtain Russian passports and citizenship on humanitarian grounds. Putin said he did not want problems for Kiev but warned that human rights violations in its eastern territories were getting out of hand.

The offices of the Migration Service in the DPR capital of Donetsk started to accept applications for Russian passports on May 3. As of May 17, the service has received about 2,500 applications.

Despite the long wait times, Donetsk locals have said they are not going to give up such an opportunity.

With a month now passed since the decree was signed, one can observe several dozen people standing in line at one of the regional offices of the Migration Service in the city of Donetsk.

"The lines are huge. There are 74 people on the list today. We are texting each other in the evening, crossing out those who got in, and so the line moves. I am 20th, if I do not get in today, I will come tomorrow and I will get in," a local named Lyudmila told Sputnik.

According to her, about 10 people are able to apply for a Russian passport in one day at the office, meaning that some people have to wait a week to get their documents in.

"Today, the 5th day [of me waiting in the line], I handed over the documents.

I was 42nd when I first came. Now I am waiting for everything to check out and I hope to receive a Russian passport in a few months. It was difficult, but I wanted to achieve this, and I did it," Tatyana from Donetsk said.

According to people, you do not have to wait in line for a whole day since the most important thing is to come there every day to check in. Otherwise, you will end up last in line.�

"We came here ten days ago for the first time. It was very hard. We were 45th, we stood in line, we got in, but we were told to correct mistakes [in the documents] and come back. We left to correct and rewrite [the papers]. We have done this three times already," Igor, a man in the line, told Sputnik.

Igor is waiting with his child since there is no one else to take care of him.

"I served in the Russian army. In 1993, I was forced to come back here because my mother was ill. Before that, I was going to get a citizenship in Russia, but it was much more difficult there," Igor added.

According to Tatyana, she stood in line for a week before she could submit her documents.

"It is difficult to submit documents, they are constantly changing something [in the documents needed to be submitted]. We have just learned about one more change: we need to submit photos of children. We also need registration papers for children, so we will have to do the paperwork again," Tatyana said.

People seem to not be deterred by these difficulties in their mission to get Russian passports.

"Everything is moving very slowly. This procedure is frightening, but what can we do? We will still try to get them [the passports]," Denis from the city of Donetsk said.