Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an executive order allowing the documents of breakaway regions of East Ukraine, supported by Russia, to be used inside the Russian Federation. These include travel documents, birth and death certificates, marriage certificates, et cetera.
The Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic broke away from the central government in Kyiv after the Maidan revolution which removed Yanukovych from power. Russia denies supporting the rebels militarily in their struggle against the Ukrainian military.
“According to the executive order, which Putin says he signed “to protect human rights and freedoms” in accordance with “the widely recognized principles of international humanitarian law,” Russia is only recognizing the rebel republics’ documents temporarily, until the conflict in eastern Ukraine is resolved.
This decision follows reports earlier this month by the RBC news agency that Russian border authorities were already unofficially accepting identification papers issued by Ukraine’s breakaway republics,” reports The Moscow Times.
