Russian occupation administrations in temporarily occupied parts of Ukraine are offering teenagers money for obtaining Russian passports, Ukraine’s National Resistance Center (NRC) said on July 9, 2023, Ukrainska Pravda reported.
Payments for 14-year-olds
According to the NRC, the payments, presented as so-called “maternal capital,” are aimed at 14-year-olds, the age at which Russian citizens receive their first internal passport. The centre did not give the amount being offered.
“In this way, the enemy hopes to carry out the plan to passportise the region,” the NRC said.
Detentions and torture
At the same time, the centre said, people who refuse to take Russian passports continue to face kidnapping and torture. Such cases have been recorded in occupied Enerhodar, the city in Zaporizhzhia Oblast that is home to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Forced passportisation
Ukrainian officials and human rights groups say Russia is using a mix of incentives and coercion to force residents of occupied territories to accept Russian citizenship. In April 2023, Putin signed a decree under which Ukrainians in occupied areas who do not accept Russian citizenship could be treated as foreigners and face deportation from July 2024.
Residents without Russian passports report difficulties accessing healthcare, pensions, jobs and property rights.
The NRC’s claims could not be independently verified.
Sources
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