Russian authorities have completed the process of issuing passports to Ukrainian nationals living in regions seized by Russian forces, President Vladimir Putin announced on Wednesday. Ukraine has condemned the move as an illegal effort to erase the Ukrainian identity in these areas.
Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, Russian authorities have pressured residents in the southern and eastern parts of Ukraine to adopt Russian citizenship. Those who refuse face severe restrictions on movement and difficulty accessing essential services, such as healthcare and education, provided by Russian-installed officials. Ukrainians who do not obtain a Russian passport are classified as foreign nationals.
“Last year, the passportization of residents in the liberated areas of the Luhansk and Donetsk republics, as well as the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, was virtually completed,” Putin stated during a meeting with Interior Ministry officials in Moscow. Russia claims to have annexed these four Ukrainian regions in September 2022, despite not having full control over them.
Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev reported that a total of 3.5 million passports have been issued.
Before the full-scale invasion, Russia had already begun offering simplified citizenship to residents in parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions under the control of Moscow-backed separatists.
Kyiv has called the passport issuance process “illegal” and a “gross violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty.” The move has also been condemned by Western governments and human rights organizations, while the European Union does not recognize the passports as valid travel documents.
