So-called Donetsk People's Republic begins mass distribution of passports
The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic has begun to issue its own passports to the population in the separatist areas of the Donetsk region. The leader of the self-proclaimed state and rebel group, of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, called this an important step towards state building, as quoted by Interfax.
According to Zakharchenko, who was one of the first to get the DPR issued document, passports will initially be issued to young people (including 34,000 16-year-olds) and the mass distribution of passports will be launched in the near future. The leader of Donetsk People’s Republic added that there is no need to return one’s Ukrainian passport in order to obtain the new standard DPR document.
The so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, which was self-proclaimed in the spring of 2014, isn’t recognized by any UN member states aside from Russia and therefore passports issued by the DPR will not be considered valid anywhere beyond its de facto borders. Currently, Ukrainian documentation is not issued in the regions that are under militants’ control.
Earlier, the issuance of marriage and birth certificates was launched in the territories which are out of Kiev’s control. However, as the members of the local registration bodies noted in their interview with Deutsche Welle, these certificates are also invalid beyond the DPR.