How Russia uses forced passport issuance in occupied territories

Extra shower and beating for voting for Putin. "Those girls who initially refused to vote in the presidential elections for Putin, they tried to stimulate them with an extra shower. If such an argument did not work, they directly said: either you will go to the elections voluntarily or under duress, but after that you will be trampled by prison staff. Moreover, it was done in such a way that only by the number of legs you can determine the number of people crowding around you, you cannot see anything special with your eyes".

Of course, citizens of the Russian Federation can vote in the presidential elections of the Russian Federation. It happens like this.  

“Either without warning they will take you to a photographer who will take your picture and in two or three weeks you will have a passport of a Russian citizen ready, or they will bring the photographer directly to you. All this is accompanied by threats of worsening the situation during the consideration of the criminal case (extending the deadline), threats of a ban on working and shopping with the money earned after moving to the colony, and mandatory patriotic lectures. This is the story of a former Ukrainian prisoner who was in a pre-trial detention center in the occupied territory, with whom I work in the framework of protecting the rights of war victims and collecting evidence of war crimes.

Legalization of the occupation and human rights violations. From the first days of the occupation, Russia has actively used the passport as a means of control over Ukrainian lands and people. By forcing people to obtain Russian passports, the occupying state solves several tasks at once:

— Legitimizes the occupation in the eyes of the international community, referring to the “protection of its citizens”;

— Forces Ukrainians to cooperate with the occupation authorities;

— It prepares the ground for further annexation according to the "Crimean scenario", legitimizes internal elections in Russia in the occupied territories.

This is done through systemic repressive mechanisms, such as economic pressure, restrictions on freedom of movement, intimidation, pressure through criminal or administrative cases.

According to the Conflict Observatory, as of 2022, more than two million Ukrainians in the occupied territories have received Russian passports under pressure. The UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) has recognized that the imposition of Russian citizenship on residents of occupied Crimea is discrimination on the basis of nationality and a violation of human rights.

In June 2024, the European Court of Human Rights, in a unanimous decision in the international case "Ukraine v. Russia (regarding Crimea)", recognized that the Russian Federation has massively and systematically violated the rights of people in Crimea. One of the recognized violations was the

imposition of Russian citizenship, which constitutes a violation of Article 8 "Right to respect for private and family life" of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

The forced issuance of passports in occupied territories directly violates the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and constitutes a war crime under the provisions of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Given that the Ukrainian Criminal Code does not contain an article on crimes against humanity, the highest political and military leadership of Russia can be convicted of this crime in accordance with the Rome Statute by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Artificially created citizens of the Russian Federation as an argument in possible negotiations. The beginning of 2025 is the period in which, from March to April 2022, there is most talk about ending or stopping the war.

At the moment, we are in the stage of discussions, closed or announced open negotiations on what the format of such negotiations and their subject matter should be. One thing is clear, Russia will strive to maintain control over the occupied territories, and it is obvious that among a number of arguments, the residence of “Russian citizens” in the occupied territory of the Russian Federation will certainly be one of them.

The arguments from our side, which are supported by a high-quality evidence base, will have an impact today and in the future. Both in political negotiations and during various legal processes.

Victims of war crimes or collaborators? In addition to the issue of foreign policy, there is also an internal question: what to do with the millions of citizens of Ukraine who have received Russian passports?

In my opinion, each case should be carefully studied, and what should not happen in any case is collective punishment and repressive measures against all those who have passports of the Russian Federation.

Today and now we must inform our people in the occupied territories about the possibility of reporting the forced acquisition of Russian Federation passports. While respecting the security of Ukrainians in the occupied territories, we can document cases of forced passporting as a war crime and notify both Ukrainian law enforcement agencies and the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which may issue new arrest warrants for senior Russian officials who are managing the processes of forced passporting in the occupied territories.

In general, state policy in this direction should be based on the fact that, firstly, Russia commits crimes, and secondly, Ukrainians who remain in the occupied territories are, in fact, one on one with the powerful repressive machine of Russia, which has a long and successful experience in carrying out political tasks of the top of this state. For them, the rights of Ukrainians are empty words.

Conclusions and our actions. The forced issuance of passports is a weapon of occupation used for control, assimilation, preparation for occupation or an attempt to legitimize the existing occupation. It is obvious that this is a massive and systematic violation of human rights and has all the signs of crimes against humanity.

The decisive reaction of the international community and the systematic work of Ukraine at the diplomatic and legal level will help protect Ukrainian citizens, punish the guilty and preserve the right of Ukrainians to Ukrainian citizenship even in the difficult conditions of occupation that exist now.

In conditions of mistrust of citizens and mistrust of state institutions, human rights defenders and human rights organizations must play an important role in this work.