Russia clearly does not view the part of the Donbass occupied by the Ukrainian armed forces as separate from that held by the separatists. The Donbass has the most pro-Russian population of all Ukraine, and votes for pro-Russian candidates despite the propaganda about Russian aggression…
RFE/RL reports:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree expanding the simplified procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship to include all residents of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
The July 17 move comes after Putin, just days after Volodymyr Zelenskiy won Ukraine’s presidential runoff on April 21, issued a decree to simplify the process for Ukrainian citizens in “certain areas” of the eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions to get Russian citizenship — a reference to areas held by Russia-backed separatists.
Insomniac Resurrected 