KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed a decree extending a quick procedure to receive Russian citizenship to all Ukrainians, in another effort to expand Moscow’s war-torn influence in Ukraine .
Until recently, only residents of the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, as well as residents of southern Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, much of which are under Russian control, were eligible for the simplified procedure.
Ukrainian officials have not yet reacted to Putin’s announcement.
Between 2019, when the procedure was first introduced for residents of Donetsk and Luhansk, and this year, more than 720,000 residents of rebel-controlled areas in the two regions, about 18% of the population, have received Russian passports.
In late May, three months after Russia invaded Ukraine, the procedure was also offered to residents of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. A month ago, it was reported that the first Russian passports were issued.
Putin’s move came when Russian bombings in Ukraine’s second-largest city killed at least three people on Monday and injured 31 more, the local administrator said. Hours earlier, Russian troops launched three missile attacks in Kharkiv, which the official described as “absolute terrorism.”
Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Syniehubov told Telegram that the bombings came from several rocket launchers and that those hospitalized for the injuries they suffered in the attacks included children aged 4 and 16.
“Only civilian structures – a shopping mall and houses of peaceful residents of Kharkiv – were left under Russian fire. Several shells hit the courtyards of private houses. Garages and cars were also destroyed, several fires broke out,” wrote Syniehubov.
Earlier, he said that one of the missiles that Russian forces launched in Kharkiv during the night destroyed a school, another hit a residential building, while the third landed near the warehouse facilities.
“All (three were thrown) exclusively on civilian objects, that’s absolute terrorism!” said Syniehubov.
Alexander Peresolin, a resident of Kharkiv, said the attacks occurred suddenly, without warning, and caused him to lose consciousness.
“I was sitting talking to my wife,” he said. “I didn’t understand what happened. There were two strikes, two or three.”
Peresolin said neighbors took him to the basement where he later regained consciousness.
The attacks came just two days after a Russian rocket attack impacted apartment buildings in eastern Ukraine, killing at least 24 people. A total of nine people have been rescued, emergency officials said.
The attack on Saturday afternoon destroyed three buildings in a residential neighborhood of the town of Chasiv Yar, inhabited mostly by people working in nearby factories.
Russian attacks in the east have also continued, and Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai said Monday that the bombings affected settlements on the administrative border with the Donetsk region.
Russian forces carried out five missile attacks and four rounds of bombing in the area, Haidai said.
The Luhansk and Donetsk regions together form the industrial heart of eastern Ukraine known as Donbas, where separatist rebels have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014.
Earlier this month, Russia captured the last major stronghold of the Ukrainian resistance in Luhansk, the city of Lysychansk.
After the capture of Lysychansk, some analysts predicted that Moscow’s troops would probably take some time to rearm and regroup, but Ukrainian officials said there had been no pause in the attacks.
The British army assessed that Russian troops were not getting the necessary breaks.
The Defense Ministry tweeted Monday that online videos suggested that at least one tank brigade in the war was “mentally and physically exhausted,” as they had been in active combat service since the start of the war on March 24. February.
The British said: “The lack of scheduled breaks from the intense fighting conditions is very likely to be one of the most damaging of the many personnel problems that Russia (Ministry of Defense) is struggling to rectify amid the deployed force.”
Also Monday, Russia’s main pipeline in Germany began a 10-day shutdown for maintenance amid European fears that Moscow will not reactivate the flow after its completion.
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Jovana Gec from Belgrade, Serbia, contributed to this report.
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