People from occupied Donbas with Russian passports are not residents of Russia - Reznikov

He said this at a briefing in Mykolaiv on April 22, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"According to various data, about 400,000 [Russian] passports have been issued in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. But these people are not residents of the Russian Federation. They do not have all the rights and benefits that Russian citizens have," Reznikov said.

According to him, this is rather a fake story. Its goal is the conditional presence of allegedly Russian citizens, so that Russians could say then that these are their people and that they will need to be protected, Reznikov said.

"The forced issuance of Russian passports is also linked to elections to the State Duma, which will soon take place in Russia. The electoral love for the current political authorities can be increased at the expense of these people," Reznikov said.

Active discussions have recently been held in Russia regarding the organization of elections to the Russian State Duma, scheduled for September 19, 2021, in the occupied territory of Ukraine.

In March, the Russian political party A Just Russia - For Truth opened its office in occupied Donetsk, which will hold "a consultation reception of citizens living in 'DPR' and 'LPR'."

The Ukrainian authorities condemned the move, calling it another example of Russia's neglect of its commitments under the Minsk agreements.

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