Children of war. As young people from ORDLO despite the bureaucracy try to get a Ukrainian passport

Video Day Petition initiators - boys and girls from temporarily occupied ORDLO, who at the time of the war in the Donbass in 2014 were children. Due to the occupation at the time of reaching the age of 16, they could not receive their first Ukrainian passports, and were forced to draw up a passport of Russia or the so-called DNR and LNR.

After reaching the age of majority, these young people now want to associate their lives with Ukraine and get a Ukrainian passport, but face a number of bureaucratic obstacles. In an interview with NV, the initiators of the petition tell what the difficulties are on the way, and explain how the petition will help them accelerate the process of acquiring Ukrainian citizenship. Anastasia, 18 years old when the war in the Donbass began, I was eight years old.

I came from Donetsk-I lived in this city in 2014, I live here and now. So is all my relatives. I plan to live in Ukraine because it is my homeland. There is only one problem: after reaching the age of eighteen [to obtain a Ukrainian passport] it is necessary to confirm your personality.

According to the current Ukrainian legislation, it can be done in two ways: either bring with you as witnesses of third parties, such as relatives or neighbors, or present a Ukrainian document with a photo that can be identified. In the current environment, not everyone can involve other people in such a procedure. In particular, because many still live in temporarily occupied territories. For example, I do not have relatives who would agree with me to go to Ukraine -controlled territory.

There were friends, but now they went to Europe. There are no Ukrainian photographs that would confirm my identity. From the documents issued by Ukraine, I only have a birth certificate. The photos are not there. It would be great if documents from temporary occupied regions were accepted in Ukraine -controlled territories. I have the citizenship of the so -called DNR, as well as Russian.

We were forced to get a Russian passport: for example, under the threat of deduction from the technical school, or just frightened. Christina Polozkova, 23 years old I was born in Zugres, Donetsk region. She was also in 2014, when the war in the Donbass began. I am now in the Republic of Lithuania. She came here on June 14, 2022 - reached through Russia and Latvia.

I now have the following Ukrainian documents: birth certificate, individual tax number, general education certificate and some housing and training documents. There is also a passport issued called DNR - I received it in 2016, because I could not live, work and study at all without a passport. Two weeks before a full -scale invasion, I received a Russian passport - I had to do it, because without it I would not be able to leave the DNR and get to Lithuania.

Despite the fact that I have a Russian passport, I consider myself a Ukrainian by citizenship. All my relatives remained in the occupied territory of Donetsk region. Some live in Russia, but with them I do not maintain any contacts. I really want to go back to Ukraine, because my house is there. I hope that Ukraine will be very soon and will be able to return home. Of course, I was a baby and I remember little before 2014.

But it is childhood that I can call the best hour of life, because then there was no war, at school we learned our mother tongue and there were some plans for the future. The main motivation to return for me is to help restore the country after our victory. I do not know what I can help, but I really want to contribute. The main problem in obtaining a Ukrainian passport for such as I now is the inability to attract parents or neighbors as witnesses.

My relatives are afraid to leave the occupied territory - yet eight years of "zombing" have made their own. It is also very expensive: expensive, housing, food - it may seem that it is a little thing, but with a salary of 15 thousand rubles it is impossible to live in the so -called DNR, not to mention about going through the half -world. Unfortunately, it is only safe now through the European Union.

Interestingly, in July 2022, on the basis of birth certificate, I received a residence permit in Lithuania. Everything was simple: she came to the migration service, gave them a birth certificate, I was registered and a month later the residence permit was in my arms. In Ukraine, however, the presentation of the birth certificate itself is not enough to obtain a Ukrainian passport. My home country demands that I am really Ukrainian.

I have repeatedly sent letters to the Migration Service of Ukraine with explanations of my situation. But she always received refusal. Before leaving Lithuania, I wrote to the Consulate of Ukraine in Latvia with a request to help leave Russia and receive at least some document - also a refusal, even indifferent.

In my opinion, it is possible to facilitate the receipt of the passport by adding to the requirements the presence of witnesses or parents online with the ability to send scans of documents, as well as a list of questions that will help confirm the person. It would also be possible to expand the list of witnesses: for example, add school teachers who can also confirm the identity of the requester of Ukrainian citizenship. Anna, 19 years old, I am from Makeevka, in Donetsk.

I am now in the occupied territories, but I plan to go to the European Union. My relatives are in Makeevka. In 2019, when I was 16, I received my first passport in ORDLO. Without it, it was impossible to finish school in the occupied territories, to enroll in exams, and to enter a higher education institution. A year later, in 2020, she also received a Russian passport. In addition, I also have Ukrainian documents: identification number, birth certificate.

I have a parents' marriage certificate, a copy of form A. The inability to issue the first Ukrainian passport without the presence of parents is a problem of many. Now we are adults, in the conditions of war, it is very difficult to bring witnesses to the procedure. I see my future in a free country, whose citizen is really in Ukraine. In the future, I want to return to Ukraine, because I want a happy life at home, with the opportunity to work, travel, live. Marina, 19 years old I am from Donetsk.

In 2014, she and her parents remained under occupation. The parents did not want to leave the occupied territory for various reasons. One of them is very difficult to start a "new life" in another city from scratch. So now my mom is in Donetsk. Relatives - in different cities of Ukraine, as well as in the occupied territories. The occupation has never planned me. Maximum - two weeks ahead. I left the occupied city but did not stay abroad.

Long before the full -scale invasion, I sought to live in Ukraine, so I chose Lviv. She came here in June 2022, one. Now I live in a hostel. As practice shows, the core of all problems is the lack of a passport. I can't make a bank account, get financial assistance, and could not apply for an external school exterior. I can't do absolutely nothing. It is impossible to even make a temporary certificate that I am me.

I do not understand why in so many years of occupation the Ukrainian government did nothing in this direction. From Ukrainian documents I have a birth certificate, individual tax number, certificate of recognition of paternity, some other documents. But all these documents do not have a photo that is needed to confirm my personality. I also had a passport from the so -called DNR. It was received in 2019 in the so -called local migration service, but later seized it.

As of now, I appealed to several instances for somehow to help me in solving the issue with my passport: to the State Migration Service, the National Police, the SBU, and also - to the BF right to defense. She also tried to receive secondary legal assistance for internally displaced persons. What you need now is a change in the procedure of identification.

Not only neighbors or relatives, but also classmates or classmates, acquaintances, a boy or girl, social protection workers and others can testify to the migration service. The testimony should also be taken in remote format. The Cabinet Resolution No. 302, namely, paragraph 43, stipulates that the State Migration Service can only send requests for personality establishment only when access to bases and archives.

But how can they make this request in the case of Donetsk, if there are many settlements there - and still under occupation? And the procedure for identification [in accordance with current standards] can take up to two months. What to do all this time? I do not know. Michael, 23 years old I am from the city of Makiivka, in Donetsk region. In 2014, when the war in the Donbass began, he lived in Makeevka.

In August 2022, he left the so -called DNR, because it was dangerous to stay there because of forced mobilization. It was possible to go to Russia, where I entered the master's degree in a local university - it was thanks to the documents about the entry that I was released from DNR. All my loved ones still live in Makiivka or in Donetsk. After the war, I want to return to Ukraine, as well as to get a Ukrainian passport. I could not do this at once, because my mom should go with me as a witness.

But she raises three children alone, so when I was 16, she did not have the opportunity to go with me to the territory controlled by Ukraine for document. Now she will not be able to leave, because her [Ukrainian] passport has already overlapped by age. Without the presence of a witness, it is difficult to get a Ukrainian passport and long - I learned from lawyers. I do not know if in my situation it is possible at all. No one seems to know it.

From Ukrainian documents, I have only a birth certificate that is not suitable for identification, as well as a school certificate of graduation of 9th grade. I also have a passport of the so -called "DNR" and the Russian passport - without it I would not be able to enter the university and leave the zone of forced mobilization. Due to the presence of a Russian passport, I am afraid to go to Ukraine now - I worry for my safety.

Elizabeth Berest, 18 years old from the city of Komsomolsk, Starobeshiv district, Donetsk region, and it was there that I lived at the time of the war in 2014. Now my grandmother still lives in Komsomolsky. Mom is in the city of Donetsk. On July 16, 2022, I sat on a bus in Donetsk, and later found myself in the Netherlands. It was possible to leave this country under the Ukrainian birth certificate.

I received the passport of the so -called DNR in 2019 - without this I would not have the opportunity to study, work and live in the territory. In the Netherlands, I received a certificate that confirms my personality and the BSN number. With the receipt of the certificate, I was helped by the consul of Ukraine in the Netherlands - this document has my photos and signature: "A person is established, a citizen of Ukraine".