Russia distributed 1.5 million passports in occupied Ukrainian territories

This is a way for Moscow to strengthen its hold on these territories. Russia has distributed 1.5 million passports to the inhabitants of the regions it occupies in Ukraine, Prime Minister Mikhail Michoustine announced on Tuesday May 30. Residents of these regions interviewed earlier in May by AFP said they were under pressure to obtain a Russian passport, which became necessary for a whole series of administrative procedures there.

Mikhail Michoustin called for the inhabitants of the occupied regions “feel the real changes taking place in cities and towns”particularly in terms of reconstruction, “educational opportunities” and work. Russia claimed in September 2022 the annexation of four regions of Ukraine that it partially occupies, on the model of the Crimean peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014.

The EU will not recognize these passports

Russia had already been distributing Russian passports for years to residents of areas of Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists in the east, as well as in Crimea. It did the same in the separatist territories in Georgia or Moldova.

The Ukrainian authorities accuse Moscow of using these passport distributions to justify its self-proclaimed mission to protect Russian-speakers in Ukraine. The European Union has said it will not recognize Russian passports issued in areas of Ukraine occupied by Moscow.