Ukrainian is the predominant language in western Ukraine, while Russian is predominant in much of the east. Citizens of the frontline buffer state between the West and Russian Federation possibly felt desperate times need desperate measures.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected worldwide criticism about his decision to ease the process of granting Russian citizenship to Ukrainians in territory of eastern Ukraine that is held by Russia-backed separatists.
"Individuals permanently residing in certain areas of Ukraine's Donetsk and Lugansk regions have the right to apply for Russian citizenship under a simplified procedure", the decree reads.
Zelenskiy, who played a schoolteacher-turned-president in a Russian-language comedy series on Ukrainian TV before launching his political career, said on Thursday his team would examine the new law to see if the rights of all citizens were respected.
The US State Department said in a Wednesday statement that "Russia, through this highly provocative action, is intensifying its assault on Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity". The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights wrote a year ago that the then-draft legislation raised "serious concerns" with regard to "international human rights standards".
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In a tweet, Lithuanian foreign minister Linas Linkevicius noted how Mr Putin used "passportization" in the breakaway Georgian areas of Abkhazia in 2002 and then South Ossetia in 2008, resulting in a 20% occupation of Georgian territory.
According to United Nations estimates, about 13,000 people have been killed in the conflict near the Russian border between pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian military that erupted after the ouster of pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych in 2014. Roughly 3.7 million people live in the two regions.
Oleksandr Turchynov, the secretary of Ukraine's national security council, said Russia's move was meant to give Moscow legal cover for deploying its troops to eastern Ukraine on the pretext of protecting Russian citizens. There's always reason to believe that a comedian could crack the code of high office and usher in the stability Ukraine needs to take on several challenges, including recognition from the Kremlin that he's all set to rule.
Ukraine's president-elect Volodymyr Zelenskiy, keen to build parliamentary support, said on Thursday the election commission was preventing him from calling a snap parliamentary election by delaying the announcement of his election victory.
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