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More than 1.4 mln Ukrainians have received Russian passports since 2019 — Russian ministry

Alexander Gorovoy stressed that the work to grant residents of Ukraine Russian citizenship under a simplified procedure continues

MOSCOW, February 2. /TASS/. More than 1.4 mln Ukrainians have received Russian passports since 2019 under a simplified procedure, according to First Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Gorovoy.

"More than 1.4 mln people have been granted Russian Federation citizenship since 2019. No other country has such privileges for Ukrainian citizens. Western countries only provided a minimum period of support in accommodating arriving Ukrainian citizens, without offering them any alternatives to refugee status," he said in an interview with the Shchit I Mech newspaper.

Gorovoy said that the work to grant residents of Ukraine Russian citizenship under a simplified procedure continues.

"With the beginning of the special military operation, we opened offices for receiving and issuing documents on citizenship issues right on the territory of the republics, as well as the liberated territories of the Zaporozhye, Kharkov and Kherson regions," he added.

According to Gorovoy, an unprecedentedly convenient migration regime has been created for citizens who arrived from the territory of Ukraine and exceptional humanitarian measures are being taken with respect to them. For example, their applications for temporary asylum take just three working days to be processed. An opportunity was given to take part in the government program to assist the voluntary resettlement of compatriots, who live abroad, to the Russian Federation. Those citizens who have not applied for migration documents are granted the right to stay in the country indefinitely and get a job, provided that they register their biometric data.

On April 24, 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree allowing residents of the DPR and LPR to obtain Russian citizenship using a simplified procedure. On July 11 of this year, a presidential decree made all Ukrainian residents eligible for the simplified procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship.