Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs migration department received its first applications for Russian citizenship from former residents of the Crimea and Sevastopol, according to the ministry press center.
"Currently, 125 people have turned to the regional offices of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia with these requests," the department said.
The department also noted that the review of documents and the decision process takes up to three months. "Until now, these applications were not accepted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Russian passports were not given out," TASS cited the press service as saying.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on providing the opportunity to obtain Russian citizenship under a simplified procedure to several categories of individuals. In particular, this decree concerns Ukrainians who were born and permanently reside in Sevastopol and Crimea and left the peninsula prior to March 18, 2014, as well as persons subjected to illegal deportation from the territory of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
