Russia’s Central Election Commission approved the procedure for Donbass residents who have Russian citizenship to vote in the Russian parliamentary election in the autumn, the CEC reported on its Telegram channel.

The 19 September election voting will run online from 8:00, Moscow time, September 17, to 20:00, Moscow time, September 19. Applications to vote in the election can be submitted at the Government Services portal from August 2 till 24:00, September 13, 2021, it said.

Aside from residents of seven Russian regions where voting will be held online, applications can be submitted by “RF citizens not domiciled in Russia who obtained fast track Russian citizenship in accordance with the Russian president’s decree No 183 dated April 24, 2019, “the CEC said.

Earlier, Lugansk People’s Republic Head Leonid Pasechnik ordered to organize voting in the Russian parliamentary election for Russian citizens living in the Republic.

Starting July 1, the LPR Migration Service began to accept applications from LPR residents for fast track personal pension account number and account registration at Russia’s Government Services portal. Mir Luganschine social movement offices provide consultations on obtaining personal pension account number (SNILS).

On April, 24, 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree easing citizenship rules for residents of the Lugansk People’s Republic and the Donetsk People’s Republic. The first center for LPR residents seeking Russian citizenship opened in Lugansk on May 6; on June 14, the first group of LPR residents received Russian passports. The Republic currently has such centers in all towns and districts. On April 24, 2020, Putin signed a law exempting Donbass Republics residents from paying the state fee for conferment of citizenship.

As of mid-June 2021, more than 250,000 LPR residents had been granted fast track Russian citizenship. According to first deputy chairman of the Russian parliament committee on CIS affairs, Eurasian integration and relations with compatriots Viktor Vodolatsky, over 600,000 Donbass residents had already obtained fast track Russian citizenship. *i*s