On March 4, 2025, russian president Vladimir Putin stated that russia had completed issuing passports to Ukrainians living in temporarily occupied territories in Ukraine. The Minister of Internal Affairs of russia Vladimir Kolokoltsev stated that 3.5 million russian passports had been issued to the Ukrainians in temporarily occupied territories, an increase from the 2.8 million reported in March 2024, the UK Defense Intelligence reports.
Russia makes access to services in temporarily occupied regions, including social services, healthcare, and financial services, conditional on the receipt of russian passports. Possession of russian passport also constitutes eligibility for conscription into the russian military. Ukrainians without russian passport also face the seizure of their property by the authorities.
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Russian efforts to enforce governance in temporarily occupied territories, and to coerce and compel the Ukrainians to accept russian passports, demonstrate the russian senior leadership’s continuing commitment to, and pursuit of, a russification policy.
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