LUGANSK, July 14. /TASS/. Moscow has supported the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics (DPR, LPR) by providing humanitarian and economic assistance for seven years since the beginning of Kiev’s military aggression against Donbass, LPR head Leonid Pasechnik said at the Forum of Russian Citizens on Wednesday.

"At a difficult and crucial moment for the entire Donbass - in 2014 - Russia extended a helping hand to us. Russia has never left us in the lurch for seven years of our fledgling state’s existence. It has always provided humanitarian and economic assistance, and support on the international arena. Russia’s leading party, United Russia, has been an authoritative backer for us for seven years. Thanks to its initiatives, among them on the legislative level, the residents of Donbass have confidence in a bright and peaceful future," Lugansk Media Center quotes him as saying.

Pasechnik recalled that "more than half a million LPR and DPR residents had become Russian citizens." "This number is growing daily. Every day we are presented with more opportunities in the legal and social framework of the Russian Federation," he noted.

The LPR head also stressed that, after the 2014 coup in Ukraine, Donbass residents "pursued the only goal - to remain part of the Russian world, protecting their history and national identity." According to Pasechnik, the start of the Forum of Russian Citizens shows that they have been able to achieve that goal.

The Forum of Russian Citizens kicked off in Lugansk on Wednesday. Representatives of Donbass, Russia, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia are taking part in the event. During this occasion, political leaders, public figures and scholars plan to discuss issues related to the protection and fulfillment of the rights of fellow citizens, in addition to strengthening cooperation and integration processes.

On April 24, 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an executive order enabling the residents of the Donbass republics to obtain Russian citizenship under a simplified procedure. A year later, a presidential executive order cancelled the state duty for the republics’ residents to obtain passports.