LUHANSK. April 17 (Interfax) - About 100,000 residents of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) have acquired Russian citizenship under a simplified procedure, LPR head Leonid Pasechnik said.
"To date, about 100,000 citizens of the Luhansk People's Republic have acquired citizenship of the Russian Federation," Pasechnik said in a statement released by his press service on Friday.
Thanks to the introduction of favorable terms for granting Russian citizenship without fees for Donbas residents on Friday, "residents of the republics wishing to acquire the coveted status, but not having financial capacities have a chance to fulfill their dream," he said.
"The law waiving a fee for the acquisition of Russian citizenship for residents of the Luhansk and Donetsk people's republics has become Russia's yet another humanitarian step towards Donbas," Pasechnik said.
Russia's Federation Council earlier on Friday approved a bill introducing favorable terms for granting Russian citizenship to residents of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DPR, LPR) by canceling processing fees.