Over 60,000 Transnistria Residents Apply for Russian Citizenship in Three Months

Transnistrian leader Vadim Krasnoselsky told the pro-Kremlin outlet Izvestia that more than 60,000 residents of the breakaway region had filed applications for Russian citizenship under the simplified procedure since Putin's May 15 decree, out of a population of roughly 500,000 of whom about 220,000 already held Russian citizenship. The figure emerged as consular fees for citizenship applications filed outside Russia had just risen nearly tenfold, from $65 to $600, effective August 1 — a change Krasnoselsky said was creating difficulties for Transnistrian applicants.