Crimeans line up for Russian passports

Residents of the strategic Black Sea Crimean Peninsula have formed long lines at passport offices to switch their citizenship from Ukrainian to Russian, a report said. People have been queuing up since early hours in the morning on Wednesday at the main passport office in the Crimean capital Simferopol to get their official Russian documentation, press tv reported. Those standing in the queues say they are clearly determined to get their Russian passports as soon as possible. They however complain about delays as there are too few officials at the office and things seem quite chaotic. “I woke up early in the morning to get in the queue, but I am in such a happy mood to get my passport that I can stand in any queue now,” said Ishina Ekaterina, a pro-Russian citizen. Another Crimean citizen, Mitrofanova Elena, also said she would like to give her Ukrainian passport to ousted President Viktor Yanukovych as a gift. Tensions remain high in Crimea since the peninsula rejoined Russia a week ago. Crimea declared independence from Ukraine and formally applied to become part of the Russian Federation following a referendum on March 16, in which 96.8 percent of the participants voted for rejoining Russia, with a turnout of 83.1 percent. On March 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law documents that officially made the Black Sea peninsula part of the Russian territory despite condemnation from the West and the new Ukrainian government. The US and its western allies have imposed sanctions against Russia threatening Moscow with tougher bans over the crisis.