Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine is a violation of fundamental principles of international law, including the prohibition of the use of force, the territorial integrity of states, and the principle of non-intervention.
Russia President, Vladimir Putin, escalated his war against Ukrainian statehood on July 11, 2022, by expanding the forced distribution of Russian passports in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, including Crimea.
This decision dramatically broadens the scope of Russia’s passport imperialism and reflects Moscow’s evolving war aims in Ukraine. It is an unambiguous indication of Putin’s ultimate intention to establish control over the whole Ukraine and extinguish Ukrainian independence once and for all.
The Russian authorities in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, including Crimea, have adopted a range of measures in order to pressure local residents into accepting Russian citizenship. State employees face the prospect of losing their jobs unless they apply for Russian passports, while in many cases local populations must acquire Russian citizenship in order to access basic healthcare and banking services or register cars and property.
Ukrainians who decline a Russian passport, the occupying authorities deny them health care, education, and humanitarian aid.
On April 27, 2023, Russian President, Putin signed a law that allows the deportation of residents of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine who have not received Russian citizenship.
Putin’s decree stipulates that citizens of Ukraine or holders of passports issued by Russian-controlled puppet “republics”, Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic, must either become Russian citizens or declare that they do not wish to do so. Those who choose the latter will be considered foreigners from July 1, 2024 and also may be deported.
The distribution of Russian passports is part of a comprehensive Kremlin campaign to eradicate all traces of Ukrainian statehood in areas currently under Moscow’s control.
Russia’s imposition of citizenship means Ukrainians in occupied territories may be drafted in the war against Ukraine.
The Kremlin conducted a closed survey of sentiment among the local population in TOT, which confirmed that the aggressor country of the Russian Federation does not have support. In this regard, Moscow wants to exterminate the disloyal residents of the temporarily occupied territories.
Wherever Russian troops are able to establish a military administration, Ukrainian state symbols are systematically removed. In their place, Russian occupation authorities are erecting symbols of the Soviet past. Schools are being forced to abandon the Ukrainian curriculum and switch to the official Russian version, which demonizes Ukrainian identity as an artificial anti-Russian invention. Needless to say, children are no longer taught in the Ukrainian language.
Russia is conducting large-scale ethnic cleansing operations to permanently transform the demographic makeup of occupied regions. Throughout southern and eastern Ukraine, there are reports of Stalin-style roundups targeting undesirables including elected officials, activists, journalists, and military veterans. Many others have simply disappeared.
Under international law, such “Russification” is a potential crime against humanity. The destruction of Ukrainian cultural symbols, the rape of Ukrainian women, the abduction of children, and now the forced conversion of Ukrainians into Russian citizens may well meet the legal definition of genocide.
All efforts to deport Ukrainians to Russia is in violation the Geneva Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and may constitute a deliberate campaign of ethnic cleansing.
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