Donetsk, Nov 11 - DAN. Donetsk People’s Republic Head Denis Pushilin said that 140,000 people live in DPR frontline areas including 18,000 who have already obtained Russian citizenship.
“We regard 81 settlements in the DPR as frontline; there are 140,000 people living there; of those 18,000 are citizens of the Russian Federation who are exposed to strikes and aggression (by Ukraine - eds Donetsk News Agency),” Pushilin said in an interview with domestic and foreign media outlets on Thursday.
On April 24, 2019 Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the degree on determining groups of foreign nationals eligible to obtain fast track Russian citizenship. The procedure was further simplified for certain groups by a new law on Russian citizenship which came into force on July 24, 2020. Latest reports said that 333,000 DPR residents had been granted Russian citizenship.*jk