The Cabinet of Ministers is considering the introduction of criminal liability for obtaining a Russian passport.
Deputy Prime Minister / Minister of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories Iryna Vereshchuk announced this on Telegram, reports Ukrainian News Agency.
"Introduction of criminal liability for obtaining a Russian passport: this is exactly what was discussed today at a closed interdepartmental meeting," she said.
Vereshchuk notes that this issue is not so much a legal one as a political one: on the one hand, the passport of the occupier helps a person to survive in a temporary occupation; on the other hand, Ukrainians stand to the death on the front lines, including ensuring there are never Russians on Ukrainian soil.
"You can have a long and difficult discussion on the topic of legal subtleties, human rights and the need to survive the occupation. But let's not forget: there is a lot of Ukrainian blood on the red Russian passport - military and civilian, women and children," the vice-prime minister emphasizes.
She noted that work on the draft law is ongoing, there will still be discussions, but the direction has already been determined.
As Ukrainian News Agency reported, Vereshchuk said that obtaining a passport of a Russian citizen by a Ukrainian should be considered a crime.
Earlier, representative of the President in the Constitutional Court, Fedir Venyslavskyi, said that there will be no negative consequences for Ukrainians who were forced to accept Russian citizenship under the threat of life, freedom, and normal existence in the temporarily occupied territories, if they declare that they were forced to change their citizenship.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the simplified procedure for acquiring Russian citizenship for Ukrainians.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine stated that illegal passporting in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, as well as in Crimea and in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, is a gross violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, norms and principles of international humanitarian law.
Matti Maasikas, the head of the European Union representation in Ukraine, said that the EU will never recognize passports issued by Russia in the occupied territories.
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