Putin expands fast-track Russian citizenship process for all Ukrainians

A process for speedily obtaining Russian citizenship is now available to all Ukrainians following a decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.

From the time the program began in 2019 in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, more than 720,000 people living there have obtained Russian passports. It extended to the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson areas in May of this year, in the midst of Russia's invasion.

The expanded offer comes at a time when Russia has been bombarding Ukraine, with the city of Kharkiv getting blasted by three missile strikes in what a local official told the Associated Press was "absolute terrorism."