• Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree expanding a fast track to Russian citizenship to all citizens of Ukraine.
• Ukraine condemned the decree as a violation of its sovereignty.
• Between 2019 and this year, more than 720,000 residents of rebel-held areas in eastern Ukraine have received Russian passports.

According to a document posted on the official website, Russian President Vladimir Putin; has approved extending a fast track to Russian citizenship; to all Ukrainian people.

Up until recently, only citizens of the Russian-occupied districts of Kherson and Zaporizhia; as well as the self-declared breakaway republics of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR); in eastern Ukraine, were qualified for the streamlined process.

More than 720,000 people of the rebel-held districts in Donetsk and Luhansk; or around 18% of the population, got Russian passports between 2019; the year the process was initially launched for residents of the two regions and this year.

Residents of the Zaporizhia and Kherson areas also got the option; to use the fast-track system in late May of this year; three months after Russia invaded Ukraine. The first Russian passports were apparently; distributed there a month ago.

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A streamlined application process for Russian citizenship; got made available to “all nationals of Ukraine”; according to the directive from Monday.

The decision was denounced by Ukraine as a breach of its sovereignty.

The foreign ministry declared that the aforementioned directive; was “incompatible with the norms and principles of international law”; and another intrusion on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba stated that “Ukrainians do not need Putin’s citizenship; and attempts to impose it by force are doomed to failure.”

The edict on Monday was deemed “worthless”; and evidence of “Putin’s aggressive cravings” by Kuleba.

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