The simplified procedure for obtaining citizenship of the Russian Federation for residents of Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics will improve the humanitarian situation and relieve social tensions, the DPR Ombudsman Daria Morozova told reporters.
On April 24, 2019, the Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a Decree on the simplified procedure for obtaining citizenship of the Russian Federation for residents of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. Putin said that the issue has a purely humanitarian nature, Russia has no intention to cause problems for Kiev, but the situation of civil rights in Donbass is totally out of line. Vladimir Zelensky, who won the presidential elections in Ukraine, declared his readiness to grant Ukrainian citizenship to representatives of all nations, primarily to Russians.
“This decision will improve the humanitarian situation and relieve tension. People will be able to travel freely outside the Russian Federation, they will have more opportunities. Children will be able to study in other countries, it will be possible to conclude educational agreements on the exchange of experience, because children will be able to travel, people will be able to receive treatment in other countries,” said Morozova.
In April 2014, the Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation against the LPR and the DPR, which declared independence after the coup d’état in Ukraine in February 2014. According to the latest UN data, about 13 thousand people became victims of the conflict.
The issue of resolving the situation in Donbass is being discussed, including through the meetings of the Contact Group in Minsk, which, since September 2014, has already adopted three documents providing for steps to de-escalate the conflict. However, after the armistice agreements, the shooting between the parties continues.
