Putin forces Russian passports on Ukrainians.

Prior, the simplified procedure was used to hand out Russian passports in Russian-occupied parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. Russia has distributed almost a million passports in occupied Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts since 2019. Forcing Russian citizenship on Ukrainian citizens was later used by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin as a justification to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.