KHERSON, August 25. /TASS/. Russia will issue passports to all people willing to get them in the Kherson Region, the deputy head of the Kherson regional military-civilian administration, Kirill Stremousov, told TASS.
"There is no exact deadline [for when the process of issuing Russian passports will be fully completed]. They will be issued as long as necessary until the last applicant receives a Russian passport. People are now continuing to file applications. We have already opened enough centers, so no huge queues anymore. The situation has stabilized," he said in an interview.
The deputy head of the military-civil administration of the Kherson Region, Ekaterina Gubareva, told TASS on August 15 that more than 12,000 people had applied for Russian citizenship in the region. She said that the number of centers was increasing: They already opened in Kherson, Novaya Kakhovka, Alyoshki, Golaya Pristan, Skadovsk.
On May 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree that eased the procedure for applying for Russian citizenship for residents of Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.
Kherson region is located in the south of Ukraine, bordering with the Republic of Crimea. In mid-March, the Russian Defense Ministry said Russian troops had seized full control of the region. At the end of April, a civil-military administration was created in the region. Regional officials have stated a desire to join the Russian Federation.