Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed a decree, extending a simplified procedure to all residents of Ukraine to obtain Russian citizenship.
The decree, published on the government portal, enables all Ukrainian citizens, as well as “stateless persons permanently residing” in Ukraine to obtain Russian citizenship through a simplified procedure.
The previous version of the decree was first introduced back in 2019 and only covered residents of DPR, LPR and Kherson, and Zaporozhye Regions of Ukraine.
The updated version now declares that “citizens of Ukraine, Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) or Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) and people without citizenship permanently living in DPR, LPR or Ukraine […] are entitled to appeal for admission to citizenship of the Russian Federation via simplified procedure in accordance with the […] law ‘on citizenship of the Russian Federation.”
Under Russian legislation, the simplified procedure makes it possible to apply for Russian citizenship without fulfilling a number of preconditions, such as living in Russia for five years, having a source of income or undergoing a Russian language examination.
