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full screen A billboard urges people to obtain Russian passports in Luhansk in September 2022. Photo: AP/TT
Ukrainians in regions annexed by Russia could face deportation or arrest if they do not obtain Russian passports by July 1, according to British intelligence.
Around 2.8 million people live in the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson, which Russia, in violation of international law, annexed in 2022. Access to healthcare and social services is conditional on the possession of a Russian passport, the British Ministry of Defense writes in a report.
In a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin last year, it was established that those who have not obtained Russian passports before July 1 will be considered stateless in Moscow’s eyes. According to the Ministry of Defense in London, in practice this could mean that those who refuse to obtain Russian passports are either arrested or forcibly transferred.
Another Russian decree stipulates that the regions should be incorporated into Russia’s Southern Military District.
Britain sees the measures as examples of the Kremlin’s “ruthless Russification” and Russia’s intention to make the so-called annexation of the regions irreversible.