DONETSK. July 3 (Interfax) - Over 2,000 residents of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) have received Russian passports, Vladimir Krasnoshcheka, the head of the migration service of the DPR Interior Ministry, told reporters.
"Over 2,000 have already received Russian passports. Over 13,000 people have applied for Russian passports, Over 307,000 have received DPR passports," he said.
An electronic waiting line to file documents started working in the DPR on July 1, he said.
On April 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree On Determining for Humanitarian Purposes Categories of Persons Who Have the Right to Apply for Russian Citizenship Using Facilitated Procedures. According to the decree, people who permanently live on the territories of some areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine will get this right.
Two centers for issuing Russian passports using facilitated procedures started working in Russia in April: in Novoshakhtinsk for LPR residents and in Pokrovske for DPR residents.
Such centers are working in the DPR and the LPR in a test mode.