Putin affirms that for him there are no citizens of the DPR and the LPR: only Ukrainian citizens or people without a state, while the usual spinners are now claiming that a lightening came and Putin has "recognized the documents of the Donetsk and Lugansk Republics"

Putin's executive order on letting Donbass people into Russia has been immediately spun as "recognition of (documents) of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics." Well it is not. Putin has not recognized the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics as such to begin with. The order calls these entities with their Minsk Agreements names right in the first lines as "territories of the particular regions of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Ukraine."

And the people living in these regions of regions of Ukraine are, according to Putin's order, either citizens of Ukraine or stateless persons (foreigners). Moreover, the executive order notably avoids even calling the passports of the DPR and the LPR "passports." Instead, it calls them "documents that confirm identity, issued by local [otherwise unnamed] authorities," which, theoretically, could also be driving licenses, university cards or other identity papers. Thus, Moscow took the pain to avoid recognizing even passports as passports and these are branded as documents issued locally that only testify to the given identity of the given person.

It is understandable that Moscow itself would like to see this order mistaken by the public as more than what it is. But, if pressed, Peskov would most likely have to state the truth. This is not a recognition of the DPR and the LPR as the DPR and the LPR or their passports as passports.

The order merely says that the Russian border officials can let these people into Russia our of "humanitarianism," which is stated as the official motivation.

On the one hand Putin wants to save his face and image, especially in the light of all the troubles piling up and the recent revelation that Surkov and most of the Kremlin never liked even the idea of unification of Crimea with Russia.

On the other hand, it is also possible that this a logistical preparation for an expected flight of the people of Donbass into Russia due to some (planned) forceful resolution of the Donbass conflict.

Here is the text of Putin's decree in Russsian:

Путин подписал указ о признании документов граждан Украины, проживающих в Донбассе

Президент России Владимир Путин подписал указ о признании документов, выданных гражданам Украины и лицам без гражданства, проживающим на территориях отдельных районов Донецкой и Луганской областей Украины.

Постановление введено в силу в целях защиты прав и свобод человека и гражданина в соответствии с общепризнанными принципами и нормами международного гуманитарного права, сообщается на сайте Кремля.

Отмечается, что с 18 февраля граждане Украины и лица без гражданства, постоянно проживающие на территориях отдельных районов Донецкой и Луганской областей Украины, могут осуществлять въезд/выезд в Россию без оформления виз на основании документов, удостоверяющих личность, выданных органами местной власти.

https://russian.rt.com/russia/news/360495-putin-dokumenty-donbass