Staunton, Aug. 25 – Moscow and the Russian occupation authorities have boasted about the more than 150,000 people in Ukraine’s Donbass who have given up Ukrainian citizenship and taken Russian. The Russians have insisted that this process has been entirely voluntary, but an investigation by the Holod news agency shows that it has been anything but.
While some people in the region undoubtedly have done so voluntary, Yuliya Selikova of the agency says, their numbers are relatively small; and after an initial burst of interest, the number of people giving up their Ukrainian citizenship has fallen. As a result, the Russian occupiers have used coercive measures (holod.media/2023/08/25/rossiyane-ponevole/).
Among those she documents are the following:
· Officials refuse to give Russian pensions to those who refuse to take Russian passports.
· Officials say that only those who agree to become Russians can receive medical assistance.
· Officials are refusing to give insulin and other vitally necessary drugs to those who refuse to take Russian passports.
· Officials are blocking those who refuse to take Russian citizenship from leaving the region.
· Officials are refusing to register automobiles owned by people who refuse to take Russian citizenship.
· Officials are refusing to allow young people to attend school unless their parents adopt Russian citizenship.
· Officials are intentionally damaging Ukrainian documents at checkpoints.
· Officials are refusing to hand out graduation certificates to those who refuse to take Russian citizenship.
· Officials are threatening to confiscate the property of those who refuse to become Russian citizens.
The occupation authorities had announced that this process of citizenship change would end by September 1, apparently so that everyone there would be able to take part in local elections September 8-10. But, Selikova reports, “even forced passportization has not helped,” and now even those with Ukrainian passports will be able to vote.
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