Russian passports distributed in Mariupol, says Ukrainian official

An employee adjusts blank Russian passports at a Goznak factory in Moscow on July 11, 2019. (ALEXANDER NEMENOV / AFP)

KIEV – Russian passports have been distributed in the city of Mariupol in eastern Ukraine that had been taken under control by Russian forces earlier this month, Petro Andryushchenko, an advisor to the mayor of Mariupol, said on Wednesday.

"The de facto annexation of Mariupol, in particular, has begun," Andryushchenko wrote on Facebook.

Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order allowing residents of Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions to apply for Russian citizenship under a fast-track procedure, according to media reports.  

Russia said on Wednesday that it is closely monitoring hostile activities of Japan and reserves the right to strengthen its defense capability in response

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday condemned that" the decree of the President of Russia is legally null and void and will have no legal consequences."

The issuance of Russian passports to Ukrainian citizens living in the territories seized by Russia is a "gross violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, norms and principles of international humanitarian law," the ministry said in a statement.

Russia to strengthen defense amid Japan hostility

Russia said on Wednesday that it is closely monitoring hostile activities of Japan and reserves the right to strengthen its defense capability in response.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova made the remarks in a statement commenting on Japan's so-called protest against the joint strategic air patrol by Chinese and Russian air forces on Tuesday.

Cooperation between the Russian and Chinese militaries is an important part of the bilateral ties, and the regular joint air patrols have demonstrated the high level of mutual trust and interaction between the two armed forces, she said.

ALSO READ: Fighting in Ukraine rages as Russia hints at longer operation

These patrols were held in strict accordance with the norms of international law and fully met the objectives of strengthening peace, stability and security in the Asia-Pacific region and in the world as a whole, she added.

Zakharova criticized Tokyo for clinging to these already traditional training events, distorting their goals and content, and wrongly linking them with Russia's special military operation in Ukraine.

The diplomat dismissed Japan's so-called protest as "groundless and absurd."

Zakharova stressed that the Japanese government is accelerating the build-up of military-political cooperation with the United States and non-regional outsiders from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and conducting joint military exercises of unprecedented scale near the Russian borders.

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