Moscow forced 3.5 million Ukrainians to take Russian passports, UK intelligence
Photo: Russia is forcing people to take Russian passports (Getty Images)
Moscow is carrying out forced Russification in the occupied territory of Ukraine. Under the threat of property confiscation, 3.5 million Ukrainians were forced to take Russian passports, reports the UK Ministry of Defense.
According to the report, on March 4, Vladimir Putin announced that Russia had completed the issuance of passports to Ukrainians residing in the illegally occupied territory of Ukraine. Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev stated that 3.5 million Russian passports had been issued to Ukrainians in the occupied territory, exceeding the 2.8 million reported in March 2024.
According to British intelligence, Russia ties the issuance of Russian passports to access essential services in the occupied regions, including social services, healthcare, and financial services. Holding a Russian passport also entails mandatory conscription into the Russian army. Ukrainians without a Russian passport also face the threat of property confiscation by the authorities.
"Russia’s efforts to enforce governance in illegally occupied territory, and to coerce and compel Ukrainians to accept Russian passports, demonstrate the Russian senior leadership's continuing commitment to, and pursuit of, a Russification policy," the UK Ministry of Defense emphasized.
Earlier, British intelligence reported that Ukrainians in occupied areas who refused Russian passports faced deportation to remote regions of Russia.
The Ukrainian Parliament’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, stated that the issuance of Russian passports to Ukrainians in the occupied territories should be considered a forced procedure. Therefore, all citizens who received Russian passports should not be labeled as criminals.
