More than 60,000 residents of Moldovan breakaway republic Transnistria applied for Russian citizenship under a simplified procedure

More than sixty thousand residents of Transnistria, a breakaway republic within Moldova's borders, have applied for Russian citizenship over the past three months, according to the region's leader Vadim Krasnoselsky. This surge follows a Russian presidential decree signed in mid-May that simplified the process, waiving requirements like permanent residency, Russian language proficiency, and knowledge of Russian history and law. But there's a complication: starting August first, Russia raised the fee for obtaining citizenship at consular offices outside Russia from sixty-five dollars to six hundred dollars. Transnistria is home to roughly half a million people, about two hundred twenty thousand of whom already hold Russian citizenship. The breakaway territory, declared independent in nineteen ninety, remains recognized only by South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

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