On Thursday, Putin signed a new decree, with which the acquisition of Russian citizenship can be accelerated under certain conditions.
Ukraine says that Russia is trying to make up for its population shortage with Ukrainian children, says British public radio BBC.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the President of Russia Vladimir Putin the new law signed on Thursday enables, for example, Ukrainian orphans to become Russian citizens on a fast schedule.
With the decree signed by Putin, it is possible for foreigners to get Russian citizenship quickly if they agree to join the country's military forces and possibly fight in Ukraine on Russia's side, says an American The New York Times (NOW). According to the newspaper, the “benefits” also apply to spouses, children and parents of the recruits.
In the regulation however, it is also possible for orphans and children whose parents have been deprived of custody to become Russian citizens on an expedited schedule.
The application for citizenship can be made, for example, by the legal guardian or the head of the organization responsible for the child, the BBC says.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, in addition to solving the population shortage, Russia is trying to force Ukrainian children to adapt to Russia with the decree. According to Ukraine, the actions violate Ukrainian law, international law and children's rights.
Ukrainian the Children of War database maintained by the authorities by nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children have been confirmed taken to Russia since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Less than 400 of them have been returned.
The Kremlin is on its side argued Russia took more than 700,000 children from Ukraine to Russia “to safety”.
Human Rights Commissioner of the Parliament of Ukraine Dmytro Lubinets said message service in X on Friday, that the reason for granting citizenship is that with it, Ukrainian children would not “legally” be in Russian territory.
International In March, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin and the Russian Children's Ombudsman Marija from Lvova-Belova. According to the ICC, the reason is Putin and Lvova-Belova's responsibility for “the situation in Ukraine”.
The ICC said at the time that the background was the illegal transfer of children from the occupied territories of Ukraine to Russia, which meets the definition of a war crime.
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