Russia has distributed 1,5 million passports to residents of regions in Ukraine, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said today.
That decision is a way for Moscow to strengthen its control over those areas that are under Russian occupation.
Some of the residents of those regions told AFP that they had been pressured to take a Russian passport because it had become necessary for a series of administrative procedures.
"Since October last year, almost 1,5 million people from the new regions have received Russian passports," Mishustin said at a meeting of the Government of Russia.
He called on those people to "feel the real changes in the cities and villages", especially in terms of reconstruction, "educational opportunities" and work.
In September 2022, Russia announced that it had annexed four regions of Ukraine, which it partially occupied following the example of the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
For years, Russia has been handing out passports to residents of areas of Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists in the east, as well as in Crimea. The same was true in the territories controlled by pro-Russian separatists in Georgia and Moldova.
Ukrainian authorities accuse Moscow of using the passport distribution to justify its self-proclaimed mission to protect Ukraine's Russian-speaking residents.
The European Union has announced that it will not recognize Russian passports issued in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the unprecedented dawn drone strike on Moscow was in response to Russia's attack on Ukraine's military intelligence headquarters.
"We have already mentioned the possibility of attacks on decision-making centers. One of those centers is the (Ukrainian) military intelligence headquarters, which was attacked two or three days ago," Putin said on television.
The Russian president added that, in response to that attack, Ukraine chose to attack Moscow.
Putin today accused the Ukrainian authorities of trying to "frighten" the Russian population by attacking Moscow, but praised the anti-aircraft defenses which worked in a "satisfactory" manner.
"The Kiev regime has chosen to intimidate Russia, to intimidate Russian citizens," Putin said.
The capital of Russia was the target of an attack by an unmanned aerial vehicle early this morning, which caused "minor" damage to buildings and in which there were no victims, according to the mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin.
(BETA)
At least one person was killed and several others were injured last night in a new attack by Russian drones on Kyiv, Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said.
"One person died, one elderly woman was hospitalized, and two victims were treated on the spot," the mayor said on Telegram.
Klitschko called on the residents of Kyiv to stay in shelters.
The city authorities announced that the attack was carried out with the help of drones, and that a fire broke out in one of the collapsed buildings.
Alarm sirens sounded tonight in Kiev, but also in the central and southern parts of Ukraine.
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