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Ukraine's president-elect has mocked Russia's offer to give passports to his countrymen, saying the document would provide "the right to be arrested".

In a Facebook post rejecting the idea, Volodymyr Zelensky pledged to give citizenship to "suffering" Russians, BBC reports.

Earlier this week, Russia's President Vladimir Putin signed a decree offering people in eastern Ukraine's separatist territories passports.

He later said he was mulling extending the scheme to all Ukrainians.

But Mr Zelensky - a former comedian with no political experience who was elected last Sunday - said he did not believe many of his countrymen would take up the offer.

"Ukrainians are free people in a free country," he said.

Instead, he offered citizenship to "all people who suffer from authoritarian and corrupt regimes", but firstly "to the Russian people who suffer most of all".

The Facebook post was written in both Ukrainian and Russian "so that everyone can hear us", Mr Zelensky said.

Relations between the two countries were further strained this week when Ukraine's parliament passed a law making the use of the Ukrainian language mandatory for public sector workers.

Russia says the move discriminates against Russian speakers in Ukraine - for many, particularly in eastern regions, Russian is still the first language.

The new tensions add to the challenges facing Mr Zelensky, who ousted Petro Poroshenko by a landslide.