May 29, 2022

Forced Integration through Passportization


Forced Integration through Passportization
A nifty document or tool of conquest? MediaPhoto.org, Wikimedia Commons

On May 25, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree creating a streamlined process for residents of the Ukrainian cities of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson to acquire Russian passports. 

The decree, though benign on the surface, likely has a nefarious motives: to swiftly integrate Ukrainian residents of invaded areas into the Russian Federation.

Getting a Russian passport is normally a very time-consuming process, but the decree requires citizenship applications to be reviewed in under three months. Several normal requirements, including completing a Russian language exam, and maintaining residency in Russia for five years, have been waived. 

Responses on Twitter included barfing emojis, and users question whether Ukrainians forced to leave their homes by Russian invaders would actually want Russian citizenship.

The presidential decree, an addition to a 2019 order streamlining citizenship for the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, are here in Russian.

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