Ukrainians in the temporarily occupied territories who received Russian passports in order to save their lives and avoid torture or deportation to the aggressor state of the Russian Federation will not be persecuted, unlike traitors who actively supported the occupiers. Mykhailo Podoliak, adviser to the head of the President's Office, announced this on his Twitter account on Monday, May 1.
Podoliak noted that there are no contradictions in the statements of Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets and Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories Iryna Vereshchuk regarding obtaining Russian passports in temporarily occupied territories. According to him, it is better not to get a passport of the Russian Federation, if there is such an opportunity, but in order to avoid repression and torture, it is necessary to take such a step.
"The principled civil position deserves the highest evaluation. But no one will benefit from an increase in the number of Ukrainian prisoners or tortured citizens. Ukraine will not persecute citizens who passively received "Russian citizenship". The key is passively, under strict coercion. Because this (coercion to unnecessary ru-passport) is one of the important technologies of intimidation on the part of the Russian Federation and an absolute sign of the systemic genocidal format of the war," Podoliak emphasized.
At the same time, active assistants of the invaders, who held positions in the occupation administrations, helped in the organization of "referendums" and took Russian passports under the cameras to answer to the law, the adviser to the head of the President's Office emphasized.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on May 1, Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories Iryna Vereshchuk said that Ukrainians in the temporarily occupied territories should not take passports of the aggressor state of Russia. Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets advised Ukrainians to take Russian passports in order to save their lives.
On April 28, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin signed a decree recognizing as "foreigners" residents of the occupied territories of Ukraine who will not receive Russian passports by July 1, 2024.
On July 20, 2022, Vereshchuk stated that obtaining a passport of a Russian citizen by a Ukrainian should be considered a crime.
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