MOSCOW, February 26, /ITAR-TASS/. A bill was referred to the State Duma on Tuesday on a facilitated procedure of obtaining Russian citizenship by Russian-speaking residents of the post-Soviet space, if they are “subjected to discrimination in ethno-cultural, political or professional areas.” The bill was proposed by Ivan Nikitchuk, deputy from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF).
The MP has said that the bill aims to protect fundamental rights and freedoms of Russian-speaking residents of the territories of states that used to be part of the USSR. He notes that “the latest political processes on the territory of sovereign Ukraine showed the need of further regulation of the facilitated way of obtaining Russian citizenship by Russian-speaking residents of the post-Soviet space.”
“An application for obtaining Russian citizenship under a facilitated procedure is considered within two months since the application is made and all the necessary documents properly filled are supplied,” says the bill.
It should be noted that this is not the first legislative initiative aimed at the simplified procedure of getting a Russian passport. Ilya Drozdov, deputy from the LDPR, submitted the other day the bill on the facilitated procedure of obtaining Russian citizenship by Russian-speaking residents of Ukraine.