The head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin in an interview with RT named the number of residents of Donbass with Russian citizenship. He stated that the authorities intend to facilitate the issuance of Russian passports to an even greater number of their citizens.
According to him, now 188 thousand Russian citizens live on the territory of the republic, however, the number of those wishing to obtain a Russian passport in reality is much higher. “The queue has been stretched for more than one year. Of course, this is wrong, and we will take measures to reduce it,” said Pushilin.
In August 2020, Pushilin noted that since the beginning of the issuance of Russian citizenship in the region 130 thousand people managed to get it. He said that “Donbass feels itself a part of a great country with its soul and heart.”
On December 29, the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine said that through the “forced Russian about 300 thousand residents of Donbass have been certified “. He added that Kiev has no complaints about such people. On April 24, 2019, the President of Russia Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the simplified issuance of Russian passports to residents of Donbass … He stressed that the measure is purely humanitarian in nature and does not aim to create problems for the Ukrainian authorities.