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Putin extends citizenship opportunity to all residents of Donetsk, Luhansk regions

Published July 17, 2019. Updated July 17 at 7:27 pm

This file photo taken on April 17, 2015 shows a general view of the town square where people attend the unveiling of a Lenin statue in the town of Novoazovsk in Russia-controlled part of Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine.

Photo by AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree allowing all previous and current residents of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions, not just their breakaway areas, to apply for Russian citizenship.

The document, published on the official legal news website, is an amendment to an earlier presidential decree, of April 29, 2019, entitled “On certain categories of foreign citizens and non-citizens who may apply for Russian citizenship in a simplified procedure.”