The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia claims that over 160 thousand Ukrainians residing in Lugansk and Donetsk regions were eager to obtain Russian citizenship since April this year. The press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation reported.
To note, Ukraine does not recognize Russian passports that were illegally issued to residents in the occupied regions.
“The document reception centers in the Rostov Region received over 160 thousand applications in total since April 2019, and decisions on admission to citizenship have already been issued to 125 thousand people,” Russia's Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev said.
At the same time, it is reported that Russia plans to include Sevastopol in the number of subjects with a special procedure for developing regional programs will operate from 2020.
Earlier it was reported that more than 170 thousand residents of temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Ukraine received Russian passports.
April 24, Russian President Putin signed the decree, which simplified the procedure of obtaining Russian citizenship for the residents of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. May 1, he signed another document that extended the right to get the Russian citizenship under the simplified procedure for other categories of Ukrainians, including the natives of Crimea and their relatives.
