Putin signs decree to hand passports to residents of Russia-occupied regions in Ukraine

On May 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree streamlining the process of obtaining Russian citizenship and passports for residents of Ukraine's Russian-occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, the Kyiv Independent reported. The proclamation is a step closer to "Russification" of the two regions, as Moscow's conflict in Ukraine has allowed it to build a continuous land bridge connecting Russia to the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Putin's decision expands a plan offered to inhabitants of Russian-backed separatist-controlled areas in Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, where Moscow has granted over 800,000 passports since 2019. In mid-March, Russia claimed full control of the Kherson area north of Crimea, as well as sections of the Zaporizhzhia region to the east. 

Russian soldiers have complete control of Kherson's southern sector, while Moscow only has partial control of Zaporizhzhia's southeastern portion. The Ukrainian governor of Kherson has been deposed, and the military-civilian administration said earlier this month that it intends to request Putin's approval to join Russia by the end of 2022. Further, according to Moscow and pro-Moscow politicians, both Kherson and Zaporizhzhia could become part of Russia.

The formal directive came after a 2019 edict that permitted inhabitants of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, eastern Ukraine's separatist regions, to use the same fast-track system. It is not necessary for applicants to have lived in Russia, to show proof of sufficient cash, or to pass a Russian language test. Furthermore, hundreds of thousands of people in the Donetsk and Luhansk areas of Ukraine have already gotten Russian passports. 

Russia-Ukraine war

Notably, Kherson officials made the ruble the official currency alongside the Ukrainian hryvnia on May 23. Moscow-installed officials announced the same measure in sections of the Zaporizhzhia region on May 19. Since the first terrible weeks after the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian army has been under more strain than at any other period. It may be fighting a losing struggle in Luhansk, in the Donbass region's northwestern corner.

According to the Ukrainian General Staff, the Russians appear to be concentrating their forces in preparation for a new offensive. Russian operations throughout the Donbass front line have accelerated in recent days, bringing them closer to completing the encirclement of Severodonetsk, a city of 80,000 people.

(With agency inputs, Image: AP)