The legislative amendment stipulated:
- Grant citizenship to foreign fighters after completing only one year in the Russian army, after the previous law stipulated granting them citizenship after 3 years of service.
- Under the new law, foreigners who have concluded a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry to serve in military formations or military forces for at least one year will be able to obtain citizenship in a simplified way without the need to obtain temporary or permanent residence.
- The amendment also includes reducing the period in which the first contract for military service is concluded with the entry of a foreign citizen into service in a military position from five years to one year for the ranks of “soldier, sailor, sergeant, foreman.”
Immediately, the mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, announced the cooperation of the Migration Center of the capital in the “Sakurova” region with the Ministry of Defense on simplifying the acquisition of Russian citizenship for foreign fighters who have concluded a contract for at least one year to serve in the army; To pump more new items.
Attracting Central Asian Soldiers
The senior Russia analyst at the International Crisis Group, based in Moscow, Oleg Ignatov, said in exclusive statements to Sky News Arabia, that I think that the purpose of this legal amendment is to attract the largest possible number of soldiers from the Central Asian region; Because most of the immigrants in Russia are citizens of Central Asian countries.
Ignatov said that some citizens of these countries are already participating in hostilities in Ukraine, but in a small number that is not commensurate with Moscow’s ambition..
Moscow has previously announced that the flow of foreign fighters to the conflict arena in Ukraine has practically stopped since the beginning of last May, as their number has almost halved..
According to the data of the Russian Defense Ministry, the number of foreign fighters in Ukraine decreased from 6,600 to 3,500 individuals.
Does it achieve the goal?
Despite the Russian desire to increase the number of foreign fighters in the conflict arena in Ukraine, the senior Russia analyst at the International Crisis Group believes that measures to facilitate the granting of Russian citizenship to foreigners “will not achieve much of what the Russian administration wants.”“.
He says, “They realize that the risks of death in this war are too great, that they will be used in the most difficult parts of the fighting on the front, and the Russian commanders will not spare them that.”“.
And about the impact of the decision on the course of the war, Ignatov added that the lives of foreigners “will not be worth anything to the Russian leaders, so I do not think that this decision will have a significant impact on the conflict.”“.
And the Russian Ministry of Defense previously said that hundreds of foreign fighters in Ukraine were eliminated by long-range accurate Russian weapons, shortly after their arrival, noting that their low level of training and lack of experience helped in that..
The ministry pointed out that many foreign fighters who see the reality of the battles on the ground prefer to leave Ukraine, but Kyiv prevents this by all possible means..
future of conflict
Ukraine is consolidating its position on the northeastern front amid an ongoing counter-offensive using captured Russian tanks, with Kyiv vowing further incursion into Moscow-controlled territory..
Commenting on this, Ignatov explained that Russia is now ready for a new escalation, through general mobilization of the army or “nuclear blackmail” or both..
“Putin still hopes to win the war in his favour, if not on the battlefield, then by forcing the West and Ukraine into negotiations,” the chief Russia analyst added..
He stressed that the war is approaching a new escalation point.
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