Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree simplifying the method for residents of Georgia’s Russian-occupied territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to acquire Russian citizenship, Russian state-controlled media reported on Might 17.

Based on the decree, all grownup "residents" of Abkhazia and South Ossetia who held that standing as of Aug. 26, 2008, the day Russia acknowledged the territories as "unbiased," at the moment are eligible to use for Russian citizenship via an expedited course of. Candidates are required solely to submit a proper request for citizenship.

Moscow gained full management over Abkhazia and South Ossetia following its 2008 invasion of Georgia and has since maintained a army presence in each areas.

Russia has employed related ways in Ukraine.

In August 2024, Russia’s Inside Ministry claimed it had issued 2.2 million Russian passports to residents of the occupied Ukrainian territories — Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk, and Luhansk — since October 2022. The determine was printed by ministry official Irina Volk on her Telegram channel. The declare couldn’t be independently verified.

The U.S.-based Ukraine Battle Observatory reported in 2023 that Russia systematically coerces residents of occupied Ukrainian areas into accepting Russian citizenship, usually beneath menace of detention, deportation, or the lack of entry to primary companies.

Refusal to just accept Russian documentation has reportedly resulted within the denial of medical care, employment, humanitarian assist, and different crucial help.

Through the large flooding of the Kherson Oblast following the breach of the Kakhovka Dam, Russia allowed evacuations solely to Russian passport holders, the Basic Workers of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported.

Putin first launched a simplified citizenship course of for Ukrainians in occupied territories in July 2022. In April 2023, he signed one other decree setting a deadline in the summertime of 2024 for residents in these areas to acquire Russian passports or face authorized and civil penalties.

Russia grants citizenship to over 3,300 foreigners under Putin’s military decreeRussian President Vladimir Putin signed in January a decree allowing foreigners who have served a year under contract in the Russian army, as well as their close relatives, to obtain Russian citizenship under a simplified procedure.The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Denisova