Alisa Sysoieva, a member of the Zaporizhzhia District Council and a journalist, said this on Espreso TV.
“The Russians are holding people hostage. It is important for them that people stay to produce propaganda. They are forcing everyone to take Russian passports and the situation with forced passportization is only getting worse. People cannot receive payments, go to the hospital without it, are forced to re-register their cars and even don't have access to the Internet,” she said.
Sysoieva added that there are cases when Ukrainian passports are confiscated.
“People living under occupation say that when a Russian soldier stops them on the street and sees a Ukrainian passport, he says: 'If you want to live in this town, we advise you to change your passport as soon as possible'. They force people to renounce their citizenship. Russians can intimidate people. The most important thing for people there is to survive. Of course, locals are urged not to take Russian passports, but Russian terrorists are setting such conditions that it is becoming increasingly difficult to hold on,” the deputy summarized.