SIMFEROPOL, June 11. /TASS/. The first Russian passports have been presented to the residents of the city of Melitopol, member of the main council of the Zaporozhye region’s military-civil administration Vladimir Rogov told TASS.

"A ceremony to present the first Russian passports to local residents took place in Melitopol today," he said.

Rogov noted earlier that over 70,000 residents of the Zaporozhye region had applied for Russian citizenship.

The first 23 Russian passports were presented to the residents of the city of Kherson on Saturday, a TASS correspondent reported. Head of the military-civilian administration Vladimir Saldo was the first to receive a Russian passport.

On May 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree relaxing rules for granting Russian citizenship to residents of Ukraine’s Zaporozhye and Kherson Region.