Putin signed a decree obliging Ukrainian citizens in Russia who do not have legal grounds to be on Russian territory to leave the country or “regulate their legal status”, that is, to obtain a Russian passport, by September 10. This also applies to the occupied territories that Moscow recognizes as Russian territory.
The document was published on the Russian legal information portal.
It also states that foreigners and stateless persons who are in the Russian-occupied territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions must undergo a medical examination to confirm the absence of infectious diseases and the fact of drug use.
Putin instructed the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs not to hold Ukrainian citizens administratively liable for "violation of the residence regime" if they applied to the territorial bodies of the department to "regulate their legal status" and submitted their fingerprints and had their photograph taken before the decree came into force.
In July 2022, Putin issued a decree extending the possibility of simplified obtaining of Russian citizenship for citizens of Ukraine. In addition, he simplified this procedure for Ukrainians from the occupied territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
- In September 2022, the Russian occupiers began “referendums” in the captured parts of the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions. Within a few days, the occupiers announced the results of their pseudo-referendums, with more than 87% in favor of “joining” Russia. On September 30, Putin signed decrees recognizing the “independence” of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine. Ukraine, like most countries in the world, did not recognize this.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine please follow us on X.