KIEV, November 25. /TASS/. Ukraine has expanded the list of unrecognized Russian passports issued to residents of Crimea and Donbass territories uncontrolled by Ukraine in Russia's Interior Ministry offices in the Rostov Region and the Krasnodar Region. The order was adopted by the Ukrainian cabinet of ministers Wednesday.

According to the order explanatory note, it aims to "not recognize passport documents by Ukraine <…> by expanding the list of agencies that issue passport documents to residents" of the territories uncontrolled by Kiev.

The expanded list includes Russian Interior Ministry passport offices located mainly in the Krasnodar Region and the Rostov Region.

On May 8, 2019, the Ukrainian cabinet introduced this list to determine Russian Interior Ministry offices whose activities to issue Russian passports will not be recognized officially.

On April 24, 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree allowing citizens of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) to obtain Russian citizenship via a simplified procedure. A year later, the presidential decree canceled the state fee for Donbass citizens applying for Russian passports. This November, DPR head Denis Pushilin reported that the number of DPR residents who received Russian passports had exceeded 170,000.