Russian Interior Ministry plans to start issuing e-passports in January 2023

Moscow [Russia], December 26 (ANI/Sputnik): The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs is planning to begin issuing electronic passports in January 2023, Chief of the Main Directorate for Migration Valentina Kazakova said on Sunday.
"The scheduled period to start issuing electronic passports is January 2023," Kazakova told Russian radio station Militseyskaya Volna, saying that "from a legal standpoint, the passport with a digital storage device will have the same status as the current paper one."
The official explained that the passport would look like a plastic card with a data storage device and that the project involved the Interior Ministry, the Ministry of Digital Development and other state agencies. The first batch will contain no less than 100,000 new passports, Kazakova said. (ANI/Sputnik)