Putin simplifies Ukrainian’s path to citizenship.
QUICK FACTS:
- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday signed an order authorizing residents of southern Ukrainian regions Kherson and Zaporozhye to apply for Russian citizenship under a fast-track procedure.
- Since February, 950,000 Ukrainians have reportedly filed applications and 770,000 of them have already become Russian citizens.
- 530,000 Ukrainians living in the Donbas region received Russian passports between 2019 and mid-2021, according to Harvard University research published in January.
- The Russia-backed authorities in Kherson and Zaporozhye said they anticipate becoming part of Russia and that residents overwhelmingly want to be Russian citizens.
- “Many residents of our region have been waiting for this opportunity, they asked questions, applications are already being submitted to the civil-military administration,” the head of Kherson’s civil-military administration, Vladimir Saldo, said on Wednesday.
- The fast-track procedure ensures that Ukrainian applications for Russian citizenship from Kherson and Zaporozhye will be carried out “within a period not exceeding three months from the date of application and submission of documents.”
- Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in May 2021 that Russia’s distribution of passports to residents of eastern Ukraine was the first step toward annexation of the region, calling Russia’s move “a big problem.”
KHERSON WANTS TO BE A “A FULLY-FLEDGED PART OF RUSSIA”:
- Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head of the Kherson administration, which was formed under Russian control, said earlier this month that the new authorities plan on asking President Vladimir Putin to officially make the region “a fully-fledged part of Russia.”
- “In the meantime, we plan that the Kherson Region will be governed by the acts of the military-civil administration,” Stremousov went on to say.
READ PUTIN’S DECREE:
BACKGROUND:
- Putin’s new decree modifies a 2019 document that established a simplified procedure for obtaining Russian passports for some permanent residents of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Ukraine.
- Kherson and Zaporozhye have been mostly held by Russian forces since Russia launched its “special military operation” in Ukraine on Feb 24.
- The Kremlin is demanding Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join NATO, while Kiev argues the Russian attack was completely unprovoked and denies claims it was planning to retake the two republics by force.
