Putin simplifies acquisition of Russian citizenship for all residents of Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin has allowed fast-tracking all citizens of Ukraine applying for Russian passports, according to the decree on Russia's official internet-portal of legal information. Previously, the decree applied only to residents of the occupied territories.

Putin amended the 2019 decree that made it easier to obtain citizenship for residents of the "D/LPR". And since May 25, Putin has simplified the procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship for residents of the largely occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhya oblasts. However, in Kherson, only 23 people took advantage of the offering in the first fortnight after the decree came into effect.

Among other things, the decree stipulates that the application for citizenship should be considered for no more than three months.

Currently, we are awaiting a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a position on the decision of the Russian president. Earlier, the Office of the President and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine called the decision to simplify the issuance of Russian citizenship to residents of Kherson and Zaporizhzhya oblasts legally null and void.

Before the full-scale invasion, the Russians actively handed out passports to residents of occupied Donbas. According to Vyacheslav Makarov, a United Russia party MP, as of February 2022, at least 773,000 such documents had already been issued there.