Reports spun in the media citing various sources claiming Russia mulls issue of national passports to residents of the occupied parts of Luhansk and Donetsk regions are designed to put out social discontent that has accumulated to dangerous levels, according to a Donbas-based writer Olena Stepova.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
UNIAN: `Russian passports` rumor aimed to de-escalate social tensions in occupied Donbas
A Ukrainian border guard scans a passport of a Russian citizen crossing the Russian-Ukrainian border on the checkpoint of Hoptivka, near Kharkiv, on Jan. 3, 2018.
