Occupiers in Avdiivka start handing out Russian passports

The first residents of the Russian-occupied town of Avdeevka in Donetsk Region have received Russian passports. The occupation "head" of Yasynuvata, Dmitriy Shevchenko, said this on his Telegram channel on social media, and was also reported by the governor of the Chelyabinsk Region, Aleksey Teksler, on local television.

Shevchenko released a video of Avdeevka residents receiving Russian passports in Yasinovataya.

The first passports of the citizen of the Russian Federation received residents from "liberated" Avdeevka. Congratulations, we are together!", - he said.

The governor of the Chelyabinsk region said that "Avdeevka will be transferred to the Yasinovatsk municipal district", so the town destroyed by the Russians will also be a "sponsored territory of the Chelyabinsk region".

Avdeevka is located about 13 kilometres north of Russian-occupied Donetsk. According to official information, the population of Avdeevka in the early 2000s was more than 37,000 people. Before the occupation, up to 1,000 residents remained in the town, which was bombed daily by the Russians. They were receiving humanitarian aid from Ukraine and many were waiting for "Russian peace".