Before fleeing occupied Ukraine, Victoria was getting squeezed to apply for a Russian passport she said she never wanted, as “I’m a citizen of Ukraine.”
Soldiers in the street warned her to get one, as she could not file key paperwork without it, and she heard stories of door-to-door checks ending in deportation for people lacking Russian papers.
Moscow has been steadily imposing its passports in an effort to justify its occupation and tighten control, but also to undermine Ukrainian identity, experts said.
Photo: AFP
“I absolutely didn’t want to do it,” said 43-year-old Victoria, speaking in Ukraine-held Zaporizhzhia on condition her full name not be used.
However, she relented when she needed to register a home and car deed — transactions for which Moscow-installed authorities demanded Russian documents.
She began getting the required Russian translations of her Ukrainian marriage and birth certificates, but left the process unfinished when she fled eastern Ukraine in January.
“Even if I got a Russian passport, I would still remain Ukrainian. For me, nothing would change,” she said.
Russia had for years been issuing passports to Ukrainians in the eastern Donbas areas held by pro-Moscow separatists, as well as annexed Crimea.
However, since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine last year, the passport drive has gradually become more aggressive.
Routine necessities such as receiving government benefits, getting or keeping a job and seeking medical treatment require Russian-issued papers, experts and residents said.
Putin last month signed a decree that allows Ukrainians in occupied areas to potentially be deported if they do not get a Russian passport by July 1 next year.
“There are queues at the passport offices,” said 40-year-old Alyona, who spoke on condition her full name not be used.
“My friends went recently and by 8am there were already 48 people waiting for the passport office to open. People start queuing up at night,” she said.
Alyona, who lives in the Donetsk region, said she got a passport from pro-Russian separatists in 2020, but she didn’t use it over the next three years.
“Now a Russian passport is needed everywhere,” she added.
Regardless of practical implications of the passports, their issuance is seen by some advocates as a fundamental attack.
“They want to erase Ukrainian identity,” Ukrainian human rights group Zmina advocacy manager Alena Lunova said.
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