In the conflict with Kiev, Moscow is expanding its policy to facilitate 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. Until now, 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 accelerate naturalization for the two southern Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhya, which are largely occupied by Russia. According to their own statements, the Russian occupation authorities there are already working on a referendum on the union with Russia.
Ukrainian authorities accuse the occupiers of forcing people to take up Russian citizenship and fear an annexation of the occupied territories.
“encroachment on sovereignty”
The issue of Russian passports is also explosive because Russian military doctrine justifies commitment when it comes to the alleged protection of its own nationals. These can also be people on Ukrainian territory who have received a Russian passport.
Accordingly, Putin’s decree met great resistance in Ukraine. The decree was “emphatically” condemned, according to a statement from the foreign ministry in Kiev. It is “a further attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine”.
State must be “destroyed”.
The move also confirms “the continuation of the Kremlin’s course to conquer Ukrainian lands, destroy the Ukrainian state and assimilate the Ukrainian nation”. Against this background, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba once again called for the supply of further heavy weapons from abroad and for further sanctions against Russia.
Already more than 800,000 new citizens
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 received more than 800,000 new citizens in Donbass within three years.
Russia has been accused for years of issuing Russian passports in neighboring countries to bolster its influence. This practice applies, inter alia, in the Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia controlled by pro-Russian separatists, as well as in the Moldovan region of Transnistria.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
