Number of Applicants for LPR Citizenship Increases by 2.5 Times in February

LUHANSK (Sputnik) — On February 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree which mandated that documents issued to Ukrainian citizens and persons without citizenship living in certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, were to be recognized in Russia until the situation in these areas is politically settled.

"Not a long time passed since the Russian president has signed a decree that is why it is too early to evaluate the situation. However the number of applications for the LPR citizenship increased 2.5 times. Before the Vladimir Putin’s degree we were issuing around 2,000 passports a year, but right now the number is reaching almost 4,000 a month," the interior minister said.

The LPR migration service even had to switch to a six-day work week due a number of applications, the minister added.

On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia's decision to recognize the passports of the LPR and the self-proclaimed people's republic of Donesk (DPR) should not be canceled yet due the blockade of Donbas region, which was introduced by Kiev last week.

The situation in southeastern Ukraine escalated in January, when fighting between Ukrainian forces and the militia of the self-proclaimed republics intensified.

Ukraine launched a military operation in Donbas in April 2014, after local residents refused to recognize the new government in Kiev that they viewed as illegitimate. Despite the Minsk peace accords haven been signed in February 2015, each side of the conflict continues to blame the other for ceasefire violations.