About 300.000 Ukrainian citizens have received Russian passports since the Russian army invaded Ukrainian territory on 24 February, according to the Russian news website Mediazona.
From 70,000 to 80.000 people received Russian passports in October alone,
the media outlet - which is critical of the Kremlin - reported yesterday, citing figures from the Interior Ministry in Moscow.
The majority of the applicants received their passports in the southern Rostov region in Don and the Crimean peninsula on the Black Sea, which Russia annexed in 2014.
The proliferation of applications is attributed to the fact that those living in Ukrainian regions under Russian occupation are denied fundamental rights, according to Mediazona. They are not even provided with "medical care" or support from the "welfare system" in case they do not have a Russian passport, according to the website, which catalogued the case of a family relocated to Crimea. Her child fell ill and, to ensure access to the health system, the parents decided to apply for passports.
Millions of people have been forced to flee their homes since the war broke out. Some 8 million Ukrainian citizens have fled to Europe. Another 4.5 million, according to Moscow's figures, have fled to the Russian Federation.
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