Almost 1.5 million residents of the new Russian regions have got Russian passports since October 2022, said Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
“It is important that all residents feel real changes taking place in towns and settlements, and see the gradual rebuilding of streets and homes, the improvement of living conditions and the emergence of opportunities for receiving education and practicing one’s profession,” Mishustin said.
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On April, 24, 2019, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree easing citizenship rules for residents of the Lugansk People’s Republic and the Donetsk People’s Republic. Lugansk launched the first passport office for LPR residents seeking Russian citizenship on May 6; the first group of LPR residents received Russian passports on June 14. On April 24, 2020, Putin signed a law exempting Donbass Republics residents from paying the state fee for conferment of citizenship.
LPR Head Leonid Pasechnik said that by June 2022, more than 284,000 LPR residents had been granted Russian citizenship.
The Lugansk People’s Republic acceded to Russia on September 30, 2022 following the unification referendum. On October 4, Putin signed the federal constitutional law on “On the Accession of the LPR to Russia and Establishment of a New Federal Subject - Lugansk People's Republic.” In this connection, citizens of LPR, Ukraine and stateless persons as well as their underage children who permanently resided in the LPR as of that date obtained Russian citizenship.*i*ie
