DONETSK, May 7. /TASS/. All offices of the Migration Service of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) have started to receive Russian citizenship applications under a fast-track procedure, DPR Migration Service Head Vladimir Krasnoshcheka said on Tuesday.

"At 09:00, all 33 of the DPR Migration Service’s offices started to receive documents from DPR residents wishing to obtain Russian passports under a fast-track procedure," he said, as cited by the Donetsk News Agency.

Initially, only the Donetsk office of the DPR Migration Service received citizenship applications. The process began on May 3 and on the next day, the first 105 applications were sent to Russia’s Rostov region for further consideration by the relevant Russian agencies.

On April 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree, which eases Russian citizenship rules for residents of certain regions of southeastern Ukraine. "Individuals permanently residing in certain areas of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Lugansk regions have the right to apply for Russian citizenship under a fast-track procedure," the decree reads. According to the document, the decision has been made "in order to protect human rights and freedoms" based on generally accepted international laws.