Putin was given the right to determine which Ukrainians will receive citizenship in a simplified manner
The State Duma has given the President of the Russian Federation the right to determine the categories of foreign citizens and stateless persons who have the right to apply for the acquisition of Russian citizenship in a simplified manner, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The government bill was adopted in the third and final reading on December 18.
According to the explanatory note, this will make it possible to grant Russian citizenship, first of all, to those living “in countries with a difficult socio-political and economic situation, where armed conflicts or unconstitutional changes of political regime occur.”
According to the head of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots Leonid Kalashnikov, the bill will help resolve issues of obtaining Russian citizenship primarily for refugees from Ukraine.
The bill also simplifies this procedure for participants in the state program to assist the voluntary resettlement of compatriots living abroad to the Russian Federation.
According to the document, persons who are included in the categories of applicants for citizenship under a simplified scheme determined by the president will be exempt from the following mandatory requirements: a five-year period of residence in the territory of the Russian Federation, the presence of a confirmed legal source of livelihood, renunciation of an existing other citizenship, knowledge of the Russian language.
According to the first deputy leader of the United Russia faction, Andrei Isaev, notification of renunciation of citizenship of a foreign state is especially relevant for citizens of Ukraine.
“According to various estimates, there are 3-4 million of them in Russia, and some are not going to return to Ukraine. One of the requirements for obtaining citizenship is renunciation of the citizenship of another state, but the Ukrainian authorities are in no hurry to confirm [this],” he said.