First Russian passports issued to residents of Ukraine’s Melitopol and Kherson

The authorities of Russia-occupied Melitopol (Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region) and Kherson have issued first Russian passports to local residents, Russian state news agency TASS reports, citing “the military-civil administrations” of the regions.

A TASS reporter informed that 25 residents of Ukraine’s Kherson had received Russian passports. Volodymyr Saldo, the “head of the military-civil administration” of the Kherson region according to Russian state media, said during the citizenship ceremony: “All our comrades from Kherson want to receive the [Russian] passport and citizenship as soon as possible.”

On 25 May, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree easing Russian citizenship rules for residents of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Shortly after that, Oleg Kryuchkov, a pro-Russian Crimean official, reported that both regions were switching to +7, the phone code of Russia.