Yesterday, on June 22 the the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov made a statement about checks of the residents of occupied by Russia Crimea and NGCA of Donbass to get biometric passports. The correspondent of informator.media talked with NGCA and Crimea residents to figure out how they apprehended Turchynov’s offer.

The reaction of Ukrainians on the statement of NSDC secretary was ambiguous. Commentaries are published anonymously for security reasons.  

Stylistics and spelling of the authors are preserved unchanged.

‘Checks are needed. But with our nuts bureaucracy it won’t be a check, but recognition of Luhansk registration as the other citizenship. And Turchynov, who builds a macho from himself, but in fact a cunning, knows this perfectly. In its turn, I propose to che4ck the actions of Turchynov in February-March 2014. What were they doing with colleagues, when Crimea was going far and far away? I remind, that all transcript hasn’t been presented yet for us. And there is the most interesting, there is the power sharing, there is not to the point of defense’.

‘Instructions on patriotism and accusations of separatism on the background of closing hospitals and problems with city dumps and air poisoned with ‘scents’ of garbage, sound for us, as a particularly sophisticated cynicism. We are accustomed to prove patriotism not by embroideries and not by national dances, but by deed (giving the state its work, but at the same time wanting to be sure of its seriousness, strength, durability, that our work will not go wrong). Let it answer us the same!’.

‘I’m not going to get biometric passport now, but thorough check of NGCA residents before getting of biometric really looks like check of Soviet KGB, when they decided, whether a person is worthy of traveling outside the Union of Soviet Republics surrounded by the Iron Curtain’.

‘Checks must begin from Kyiv and controlled to Ukraine Donetsk and Luhansk regions – from Akhmetov, Shishatsky, Taruta, Lukianchenko – from the ‘DPR’ Founding Fathers and from those spineless ‘strong business executives’, who themselves, through their activities or inaction, provoked war and occupation.

What about ‘turned away from Ukraine’ residents of liberated Donbass – it’s an economic question. Our compatriots mostly think and feel with stomach and purse. Local industries will recover, new working places will appear and acceptable living conditions and patriotism harshly rises high’.

‘Let power prove that it’s really power and will take for a rigid establishment of order ‘from above’, because it doesn’t want to hear the demands ‘from below’ (either through the press or through public organizations). The problem is that a separatist stigma is imposed on Donbass very often. It’s in local officials’ hands – demands and complaints of the electorate in this situation and more – in conditions of a warfare go over the ears with impunity. The only hope is on the rigid power vertical, uncompromising and to the people, and to officials, and to deputies. Let them introduce order here (even as hard as possible, as far as possible within the law), but not as conquerors on someone else’s ‘novoross’ territory, but as lawful masters of the Donetsk region (solving real problems of cities and settlements, not finishing them)’.

‘It’s necessary to make thorough check of the traitor-collaborator Turchynov for the organization of the surrender to katsap invaders of Crimea and Donbass’.

‘What else should I do, what check must I pass more? As I understand, now Donetsk and Luhansk registration automatically make you not a citizen of Ukraine’.

‘Firstl, the hype around biometrics was created artificially and completely purposefully. Heads of passport offices (I’m talking about getting of such biometrics, which is possible to get from 14 years) get an unofficial decree to give out only biometrics to the inhabitants of our territories, keeping silent about the fact that by law we can choose and receive at our request a passport of the old standard.

Second, there are queues only to fill the documents, stretched for months, created, it seems, too, just to stimulate to ‘buy’ the documents. This is explained by the slow operation of equipment that processes the same fingerprints.

At the same time people don’t know that even when obtaining biometrics they have a right to refuse to hand over prints (which would undoubtedly accelerate the process of issuing at least separate passports). So, and the last. Could mr. Turchynov imagine, how much is (without any bribes!) A passport for an inhabitant of uncontrolled territories, in order to also wish to take advantage of such an artificially praised as almost a Maidan’s goal of visa-free travel (tourist)? To go on controlled, to live there, renting housing, waiting for coming of the rest to form the passport (there is a need in some cities to come to passport office every day to make a point, finding out how much of your turn has made it on this day) and then once again go there to take this document off. How much will it be? And then divorced parents of not every teeneager after 16 age live close to each other and without the consent of which the child does not have the right to go to the controlled territory in order to acquire the desired Ukrainian citizenship (hey, where are the announced projects to arrange the issuance of passports at the age of 16 directly at the checkpoint?..). And how to get a permission to export, which must be issued by a notary working in Ukraine? It’s possible, but for very big money.

So, I’m interested what is the aim? To make our children to get dpr passports? What else must we prove, if so on the registration of general civil biometrics my child needs to provide ORIGINALS of documents on residence from the housing office in Donetsk – and here it does not matter if I live in this city or left it and can’t go there for any reasons? In general I have more and more questions. It’s interesting what will be the next step? To ban the action of passports with certain registration, issued for a specific period of time?’.

‘I’m still waiting, when passports with Donetsk and Luhansk registration will be invalidated. Honestly, only this is not enough in the discriminatory list’.

‘So, how people must live? Simply: how to live? If there are checks from every side? Neither live normal life, neither work nor leave. Well, maybe in NGCA where they’re waiting for us with firing squads… How to confirm the identity? Based on what? People went in what they were, many people, except for a passport and a bag with things from a past life, have nothing… Just a legitimate refusal to issue passports to anyone who has a Donetsk or Lugansk registration. EU prohibited to discriminate IDPs and NGCA inhabitants, so they found another way out! The next cut in rights … When I risked my life arguing with vatniks and hoarse defending the rightness of my country, when I left everything and left the house, I didn’t think that I would feel in my country as a subhuman’.

‘I think that Donetsk, Luhansk regions and Crimea residents have a right to get biometric passports. Restriction on a territorial basis is unacceptable. Let’s look who is the main audience going abroad: it’s young, mobile, energetic people. The absolute majority is between the ages of 20 and 45 years. The ability to travel freely across Europe is a strong competitive advantage in comparison with the passports of the occupiers. The Ukrainian authorities must find as many arguments as possible so that young people from the occupied territories come to study and live in Ukraine. By this we are strengthening the foundation for the return of these territories. At the same time, I understand and, in principle, partly support Turchinov’s initiative. I see the logic in checking any applicant for a biometric passport (not only from Luhansk, Donetsk and Crimea) for involvement in crimes against the state of Ukraine. A big base of such people is collected on ‘Mirotvorets’ (Peacemaker) website, there are also another bases. If a man fought against Ukraine, organized anti-Ukrainian actions, ‘referendums’ – it’s illogical to give him a passport with a trident, this disrespect for himself’.

‘That’s great that I received biometrics on February… And there is no sense in the check… The next component for corruption .. “Separs” will pay, they will receive, and usual they will rob for money’.

‘I for Injustice, A for Arbitrariness. You’d better upgrade your skill to give militants not conditional, but real terms. And the organizers of the referendum in the liberated cities put in jail already to f…ing mother. How many more humiliations should people suffer in the Donbass, in order to finally turn away from Ukraine? Or is this the goal? And let’s conduct such a check all over Ukraine. You’ll be overshoot from the results – I guarantee. Everyone will stay at home, no one will go to any EU, for ‘if you do not sit, this is our fault’, whatever’.

‘Like a person left Donbass long ago before a war, but don’t lose the connection with it, I want to say that more than enough Ukrainian patriots came out from there. For example, Zhadan. Oh, it’s interesting if he has still Luhansk region registration, he also must pass the check? Really Turchinov and Co. imagined themselves as destiners of destinies on the basis of registration? So, I’m like a man with real Ukrainian surname can quite raise a claim to a person who has a surname with a Russian ending -ov. But I won’t do it, because I live in European country, not in USSR with exclusively ‘Soviet’ nation or in Germany of 1933’.

‘Maybe we need to take some tests, no? F…ck they won’t hold any checks to themselves. Everyone is really being checked, passports don’t issued on the sidewalks! In our reality it’s unknown in what it would turn’.

‘It’s a state lawlessness’.

‘Did turchynov sounded his own opinion? Or it’s a fear of European Union? Anyway, the one thing is clear: to improve the quality and efficiency of SBU work is more difficult than denying issuing a biometric passport’.

‘Let’s divide those who left on 2 groups.1 – didn’t leave, because they can’t, didn’t decide, money, ill old people, so here is this bjg group ‘I can’t’. 2 – everything is ok there. These people have some work there and the rest is like ‘what is the difference which language/power/ we can’t influent on anything/the main thing is a peaceful sky’. Stuff like this, but in general it’s possible to live. This means the group who could leave, but didn’t do it because of indifference/indolence. So, first don’t care about visa-free. They have such a situation and the state is guilty in it. About second I think also Turchynov speaks. Collaborators, moving to Russia, I didn’t put in these groups at all. This would also have the existing passports nullified. And yep, I’m going to get biometrics. I won’t mind against checks, for example, that I left in fact and live on the controlled area’.

‘The next step of Turchinov will be the abolition of payments to those IDPs, who wanted to obtain new passports. So, if IDP is going to go to Europe, so he has a lot of money and there is a need to check it more carefully’.