How to obtain Russian passports in Donetsk
We accept applications four days a week. Check in line - twice a day. Passport photo with mouth closed. The Donbass journalist and political scientist, a DPR citizen who did not agree to a fictitious marriage, Ekaterina Ignatova, told a PolitNavigator observer that Donbass voted for the citizenship of their Motherland, Russia, in a referendum and has been fighting for five years now.
Valentin Filippov : I'd like to remind you that Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that no one needs Russian passports. And no one will come for them. We tried to find the people who went for them. We searched for a long time. Up to two or three seconds. Right in front of us…
Ekaterina Ignatova : I am Ekaterina Ignatova.
Valentin Filippov : Our guest is Ekaterina Ignatova, who came to the DPR registration office to obtain a Russian passport. Hello, Katya!
Ekaterina Ignatova : Good afternoon!
Valentin Filippov : Ekaterina, tell me, were you escorted to the DPR Federal Migration Service checkpoint by machine gunners, or were your relatives captured by reptilians who threatened you? Or did you just happen to be there, at the Russian passport application center?
Ekaterina Ignatova : I contacted the Migration Service of the Donetsk People's Republic with a feeling of pride and joy that I could finally apply for a Russian passport. The moment has finally arrived when we've waited for the law to be published that allows us to apply and become full citizens of Russia. And this is what we wanted; this is what we stood for in the referendum.
I’m so sorry that in the referendum on May 11, I was literally a month short of coming of age, and I couldn’t take part and say that I want to live in Russia.
I want to live in a full-fledged country, in which there is no nationalism, not some incomprehensible “European values”. And in which our culture is truly ours, in which I am not forbidden to speak the language that I have spoken since birth, in which I am not oppressed. Where there are no incomprehensible neo-Nazis, where there are no incomprehensible people with machine guns. I want to live in a full-fledged country and that’s why this is my choice today. I went to the passport office and got in line to submit documents. I note that there are a lot of people...
Valentin Filippov : Ukrainians will immediately latch onto "strange people with machine guns." Don't you have any strange people with machine guns?
Ekaterina Ignatova : These are the defenders of our native Donbass.
Valentin Filippov : Okay, Katya, there's a line there, right? I heard that… there's this guy Tymchuk, from "Information Resistance" in Ukraine, and he said he's compiling lists of people who come to ask for a Russian passport. Were any lists ever compiled for Tymchuk?
Ekaterina Ignatova : I don't know – I don't know what kind of lists the Ukrainian side is expecting… There is, of course, a waiting list here, in order to organize people, so that there are no crowds, so that people can organize themselves, since there is no possibility right now to accept the huge number of people who are already standing at the passport office doors waiting for documents.
Accordingly, yes, people make lists. But this is nothing more than simple organization, self-organization.
Valentin Filippov : Maybe Tymchuk moonlights as a queue organizer.
Ekaterina Ignatova : I was also hoping to see him there, but, oh, it didn’t work out…
Valentin Filippov : There are rumors that to obtain a Russian passport, you need a Ukrainian passport, not a DPR passport. Has this been confirmed, or is it still unclear?
Ekaterina Ignatova : It's more of a confusing issue. There are currently many nuances in the interpretation of Vladimir Vladimirovich's decree, but at the office I applied to, they require a Ukrainian passport and a DPR passport. And this is a mandatory requirement. If a person doesn't have a Ukrainian document and a DPR passport, their application is denied at this stage.
Valentin Filippov : You were just a little short of reaching adulthood to participate in the referendum. So, you likely didn't even have time to obtain a regular Ukrainian passport. So, are you already part of the generation that receives a DPR passport upon reaching adulthood, but has never held a Ukrainian passport?
Ekaterina Ignatova : No, you get a Ukrainian passport at 16, and I got mine at 16, just like everyone else. But there are also quite a few kids on the waiting list who have just recently received their documents, and they're wondering what to do next. They want to enroll in Russian universities, they want the same Russian documents, they want to be citizens of the Russian Federation, but they don't have a Ukrainian passport.
As of today, we have not yet heard an answer about how to deal with this.
Naturally, there should be an explanation from both the Federal Migration Service of Russia and the Migration Service of the Donetsk People's Republic. I would really like to write a request to the Russian Federal Migration Service and clarify these nuances. I was wondering whether it is possible to apply for citizenship in a simplified manner on the territory of Russia?
Valentin Filippov : Yes.
Ekaterina Ignatova : As users write on Facebook... I understand that this may not be authoritative for some, but people say they've been contacting the Federal Migration Service (FMS) and so far they've been denied, as authorized representatives have been designated by decree in the Luhansk and Donetsk Republics. However, in the near future, I believe centers will open where we can directly contact the authorized Russian agency and submit documents within the Russian Federation. This will ensure that people who haven't received a temporary residence permit or a residence permit, residents of Donbas who are currently living and working in Russia, don't have to travel here to Donetsk or Luhansk and submit applications at their registered address.
This is also a nuance that requires consideration and detailed study in order for some kind of order to be developed. In any case, nothing happens in one day or in a week. It’s impossible to just take it and work out that at one moment everyone will receive passports, everyone will receive documents, all the nuances will be taken into account. This has been honed over the years.
Valentin Filippov : Well, in Crimea, we didn't get everything right away, even though we tried really hard. And there were fewer problems – all we had to do was come and renew our passport.
Ekaterina Ignatova : The decree is not even a month old, and more than 2000 documents have already been accepted.
Valentin Filippov : I believe that until Russia officially recognizes the DPR and LPR, and until the DPR and LPR become constituent entities of the Russian Federation, you will be considered Russian citizens permanently residing abroad. Such people are typically registered with the consulate.
Ekaterina Ignatova : It's very interesting that I looked at the statistics – our local lawyers conducted surveys on social media asking, "Why do you need Russian documents?" And most people answered either, "I want to work in the Russian Federation" or "I want to be a citizen of Russia; I don't recognize Ukraine as a state." And there was also the option, "I want to go on vacation." We're all human, after all. Of course, talking about vacation during wartime is wrong, in my opinion, but nevertheless...
We have been living in a state of war for five years. Many people are working hard, something is happening, we are trying to maintain a peaceful life in the center, but somehow it still continues. Some people want to go to relatives, others want to go see something. There are some nuances in the work, all of which also need to be taken into account.
And Ukraine, it turns out, has deprived us of any right in principle - we are not citizens, we are not people. For example, even me, why not take me as an example, I lived and live in Donetsk, I was born in Donetsk, why can’t I get a Ukrainian foreign passport?
Valentin Filippov : Theoretically you can, but in practice you’ll end up in prison.
Ekaterina Ignatova : Yes, I'll practically be sitting in jail. I don't really want to. I don't even want to risk it. I don't see the point.
Why couldn't my parents continue working? Because those institutions that worked here abandoned the city! They left, they abandoned us. The entire power structure, it turned around and went to a place where they just pay, and the rest are ordinary people, they were simply left without anything. No documents, no social benefits, no guarantees of any kind. That's it, you're thrown out.
Valentin Filippov : How close are the LPR and DPR, and the DPR in particular, to being considered a subject of the Russian Federation? According to local laws, and in terms of compatibility with Russian regions? What's the current situation?
Ekaterina Ignatova : Russia... I'm not yet a Russian citizen. But for some reason, Russia is more concerned about what's happening in Donetsk than Ukraine, which claims that Donbas is Ukraine. How can this be Ukraine if Russia is providing us with humanitarian aid? Russia just issued a decree allowing children aged 14, 16, and others to receive Russian citizenship and passports. Why is Russia worried about what's happening with medicines when humanitarian aid is going to hospitals, aid is coming? Why is this happening in the cultural sphere, in education? Russia supports us, but no one else does?
Valentin Filippov : In Ukraine they will tell you: “Because Russia is an occupier and an aggressor.”
Ekaterina Ignatova : Ah, so that's it. Very interesting. An occupier, an aggressor, and we, separatists, on our own land…
Valentin Filippov : You say the lines are long?
Ekaterina Ignatova : I can't say the lines are incredibly long. I arrived at 6 a.m. today, and I was the 39th person. They accept appointments four days a week. There are people ahead of me who signed up on Wednesday. Today I arrived after Thursday, which is not a reception day. On Friday, there are 38 people ahead of me, some of whom are returning to bring a receipt for payment of the citizenship and passport fees. So, about half of the people came for the first time to submit their documents for verification, to ensure that all their documents are complete. Well, I think that for the district department, 15 people a day isn't a huge line; it's quite bearable. People come all the time. It costs 130 people to get a DPR passport.
Valentin Filippov : They came to their senses.
Ekaterina Ignatova : They've come to their senses, of course. Everyone who was hesitant wanted to wait until the lines died down. Now we have everyone standing quietly waiting to receive their Donetsk document so they can obtain their long-awaited Russian citizenship.
Valentin Filippov : I have a feeling there will soon be ads in the newspapers: “I will marry a citizen of the DPR, I guarantee a reward.”
Ekaterina Ignatova : It is possible.
Valentin Filippov : Sham marriages. That's why I asked about the queues. Katya, don't you think there could be some kind of provocation from Ukraine, some kind of terrorist attack against the document collection points specifically? They certainly know the coordinates of these police stations, these DPR Federal Migration Service offices. They know when people gather there. We remember, they love that kind of thing: trolleybus stops, some bus at the border, and so on.
Ekaterina Ignatova : Nothing is out of the question. For these people, nothing is sacred. How many times has this happened? You're walking through the city, you hear some noise, and it turns out there's been another terrorist attack somewhere nearby.
When the terrorist attack occurred and Alexander Zakharchenko was killed, at that moment I was maybe 3, 4 kilometers from the city. I couldn't even think about it. There was a terrorist attack on Pushkin Boulevard in the center of Donetsk. Likewise, I left the house, I was heading there, it happened in half an hour. My plans changed, I didn’t go there, and within half an hour such an unpleasant event happened at this place.
It would not be surprising for Ukraine if they come up with something somewhere. After all, there is a peaceful life in the picture, we try not to talk about the war in life, because it’s all incredibly pressing, it’s all psychologically very difficult, it’s impossible to describe how to live in a state of constant psychological tension, constant anxiety that now they’ll start shooting again, as it was in '14, '15. Nothing goes away.
Ukraine is constantly shelling the outskirts. Every day I look at the summary of what is happening here. And in all directions, the Gorlovka direction, poor Zaitsevo, the poor village of Golmovsky, there are constant explosions and shelling, something is constantly happening, mortar shelling. The airport side, to be honest, is just terrible. Nothing surprising will happen if, God forbid, something happens in the city.
Valentin Filippov : Regarding the "wonderful" video offering peace to the residents of Donbas and Crimea (even though Crimea isn't actually at war). What do you think of this creative work?
Ekaterina Ignatova : Do you want me to confess honestly?
Valentin Filippov : “ I didn’t watch it.”
Ekaterina Ignatova : I don't even know what you're talking about. This just goes to show how much they want peace. Here's a woman from Donetsk who... I constantly follow the news, I see what's going on in the media, but I didn't even know such a video existed.
Valentin Filippov : Clergymen of various faiths are reaching out to Donbas and saying, "We want to build a great democratic Ukraine. We can't live without you, people of Donetsk, we love you."
Ekaterina Ignatova : Wonderful. "We love you," but we shoot at you, we kill your children, your husbands, your sons—a wonderful love, wonderful. But perhaps Donbas could do without such love.
Valentin Filippov : Good. Thank you.
Ekaterina Ignatova : Thank you very much, it was a pleasure talking with you, it was a pleasure to tell you what is really happening in Donetsk now, and it is incredibly gratifying that we, too, will finally become Russian citizens.
Valentin Filippov : Hooray!
Ekaterina Ignatova : And on that positive note :)
English version :: Read in English: How to get Russian passports in Donetsk