In the conflict with Kyiv, Moscow is expanding its policy of easier access to Russian citizenship. “All citizens of Ukraine have the right to apply for citizenship of the Russian Federation through a simplified procedure,” said a decree issued by President Vladimir Putin on Monday. So far, the regulation only applied to Ukrainians in the eastern Ukrainian separatist regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.
At the end of May, the Russian President then decided to fast-track naturalization for the two southern Ukrainian regions of Cherson and Zaporizhia, which are largely occupied by Russia. According to their own statements, the Russian occupation authorities there are already working on a referendum on union with Russia. Ukrainian authorities accuse the occupiers of forcing people into Russian citizenship and fear an annexation of the occupied territories.
Russia: 800,000 new citizens in three years
The issue of Russian passports is also explosive because Russia’s military doctrine justifies deployments when it comes to the supposed protection of its own nationals. This could then also include people on Ukrainian territory who have had a Russian passport issued.
Putin issued the original decree in April 2019. Since then, Ukrainians in the eastern Ukrainian separatist regions of Luhansk and Donetsk have been able to become Russian citizens more easily. According to the Russian Interior Ministry in mid-June, Russia has gained more than 800,000 new citizens in Donbass within three years.
For years, Russia has been accused of issuing Russian passports in neighboring countries in order to strengthen its own influence. Among other places, this practice applies in the Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia controlled by pro-Russian separatists, as well as in the Moldovan region of Transnistria.
Source: Nachrichten
