Russian passports could be given not only to Berkut - Russian Consulate in Ukraine
1 March 2014, 16:34
The Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Simferopol did not exclude that Russian passports can be issued not only to officers of the special police division Berkut, but also to other citizens of Ukraine, Consul General, Vyacheslav Svetlichny said.
'Maybe they can. We will solve these questions stage-by-stage,' the diplomat said, answering the question whether those not employed at the police could get passports. Svetlichny also noted that the preparation process for issuing passports had already begun.
The information that the Consulate General of Russia in Simferopol had been instructed to take measures on issuing Russian passports to Berkut officers was published on Friday on the Foreign Ministry's page in Facebook.
Answering a question, whether the Foreign Ministry's order concerns only Berkut units in Crimea, the Consul said: 'Our consular district includes the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol'.
The political crisis burst out in Ukraine at the end of November, 2013, when the Cabinet of Ministers announced the suspension of the European integration of the country. Mass protest actions called the EuroMaidan were held throughout Ukraine, and in February, resulted in mass slashes between radicals and the police. Recently, Arsen Avakov, whom the Ukrainian Parliament had temporarily entrusted with the duties of the Minister of Internal Affairs, issued an order dissolving the MIA of Ukraine's Special Forces unit Berkut, which was opposed to the protesters. There are lots of video footages showing radicals brutally beating up the special unit's soldiers.
Voice of Russia, RIA
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