Occupation authorities of the russian federation have been trying to distribute passports of russian citizenship on the occupied territories of Ukraine for months, most actively in the south of Ukraine, Center for Strategic Communication reports.
"Taking advantage of the vulnerable position of Ukrainian citizens, the enemy induces them to apply for Russian citizenship through a simplified procedure. People’s Ukrainian passports are confiscated."
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And despite the fact that Ukrainians who stayed on the occupied territories are mostly reluctant to take russian documents (only 800 people, or 1% of the total population in Berdiansk took a passport), russians still look for ways to make the people take them, by force if necessary.
This includes confiscation of property of local businesspeople, creating food crises and blocking social benefits. Data according to Startcom Center and the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine.
But there are even more risks in taking russian citizenship: it creates grounds for mobilization into the ranks of the russian army to be used as "cannon fodder" in the war against Ukraine. Defense Express has earlier reported on such attempts to forcibly recruit Ukrainians to fight against their compatriots.
Another reason for russia to do this is to prepare for the annexation of captured territories by holding pseudo-referendums based on the Crimean or Donbas scenario.
And since some locals are russians now, there is a legitimate reason for the russian federation to wage war on Ukraine further, Kremlin thinks in another attempt to justify the unprovoked aggression against a sovereign country.
Stratcom Center notes that russia’s actions in the occupied territories violate international law:
"The Regulation on the Laws and Customs of War on Land, which is an appendix to the Fourth Hague Convention of 1907, expressly prohibits forcing the population of occupied territories to swear allegiance to the occupier. This applies both to the military oath and to the change of citizenship."
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