Ukraine’s KHARKIV — In yet another move to increase Moscow’s influence in the war-torn Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Monday extending a fast-track procedure to obtain Russian citizenship to all Ukrainians.
Only residents of the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as those of the southern Ukraine regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, large portions of which are occupied by Russia, were previously eligible for the streamlined process.
The response of Ukrainian officials to Putin’s announcement is still pending.
More than 720,000 residents of the rebel-held regions of Donetsk and Luhansk — or about 18% of the population — received Russian passports between 2019, when the process was first introduced for residents of those regions, and this year.
Residents of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions were also given the option to use the fast-track process in late May, three months after Russia invaded Ukraine. The first Russian passports were reportedly distributed there a month ago.
Putin’s action came as Russian shelling of the second-largest city in Ukraine claimed at least three lives and injured 31 others, according to the local administrator. The official referred to the three missile strikes by Russian forces on Kharkiv earlier that day as “absolute terrorism.”
Regional to Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov stated on Telegram that numerous rocket launchers were used in the shelling, and that patients hospitalized for injuries sustained in the attacks ranged in age from 4 to 16.
Only civilian buildings, including a shopping mall and the homes of peaceful Kharkiv residents, came under Russian fire. Numerous shells landed in the yards of individual homes. Numerous fires broke out, and garages and automobiles were also destroyed, according to Syniehubov.
Earlier, he claimed that one of the missiles fired at Kharkiv by Russian forces overnight destroyed a school, another struck a residential structure, and the third fell close to storage facilities.
“This is pure terrorism,” someone exclaimed, “all three were launched exclusively at civilian targets.” said Syniehubov.
Alexander Peresolin, a resident of Kharkiv, claimed that the attacks came on him suddenly and without warning, knocking him unconscious.
He stated, “I was sitting and talking to my wife. “I had no idea what had happened. There were either two or three strikes.
According to Peresolin, neighbors carried him to the basement, where he later came to.
The attacks happened just two days after a Russian rocket attack in eastern Ukraine that destroyed apartment buildings and killed at least 24 people. Nine people in total have been saved, according to emergency personnel.
Three buildings in the Chasiv Yar town’s residential district, which is primarily populated by people who work in nearby factories, were destroyed by the attack late Saturday.
Russian attacks in the east have also persisted, according to Serhiy Haidai, the regional governor of Luhansk, who claimed on Monday that settlements near the administrative border with the Donetsk region had been shelled.
According to Haidai, Russian forces shelled the area four times with shells and conducted five missile strikes.
In the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, which includes the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, separatist rebels have been engaged in combat with Ukrainian forces since 2014.
Earlier this month, Russia seized Lysychansk, the last significant center of Ukrainian resistance in Luhansk.
After the capture of Lysychansk, some analysts believed Moscow’s forces would need some time to reload and reorganize, but according to Ukrainian officials, attacks have continued unabated.
According to the British military, Russian troops weren’t getting the breaks they required.
Since they had been on active combat duty since the war’s beginning on February 24, the Defense Ministry tweeted on Monday that online videos suggested at least one tank brigade in the conflict was “mentally and physically exhausted.”
The Russian (Ministry of Defense) is working to address a number of personnel issues among the deployed force, but the lack of scheduled breaks from intense combat conditions is likely one of the most damaging.
Also on Monday, the main Russian gas pipeline to Germany started a 10-day maintenance shutdown amid concerns in Europe that Moscow might not reopen the flow once it is finished.
