MOSCOW, February 25 (RAPSI) - At a recent plenary meeting of the State Duma, A Just Russia leader Sergei Mironov proposed that the citizenship procedure for Ukrainian nationals should be simplified, taking no longer than six months.
Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky also advocated for the granting of Russian citizenship to any ethnic Russians currently living in Ukraine – as well as Ukrainians – if they wish to become Russian citizens.
Earlier, LDPR member Ilya Drozdov submitted a bill to the State Duma that said that Russians with Ukrainian citizenship could apply for Russian citizenship through a fast-track procedure.
The Ukrainian parliament voted Saturday to impeach President Viktor Yanukovich following months of anti-government protests that originally flared up in November when the government took a step back from proposed EU ties in favor of strengthened cooperation with Russia.
Special envoy for the Ukrainian Interior Ministry Arsen Avakov said on Facebook Monday that ousted president Yanukovich has been placed on a wanted list.
Fighting between radical anti-government protesters and police has claimed 82 lives since the violence escalated on February 18, according to the Ukrainian Health Ministry. Yanukovich, who fled the capital, had earlier called the move a coup and compared it to the rise of the Nazis in Germany in the 1930s.