On April 30, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets advised Ukrainians in the occupied territories to take Russian passports in order to survive.
“I would advise you to take a Russian passport, but still decide for yourself to survive. It is most important. We understand that this happens under pressure, physical pressure. Therefore, take a passport, survive, wait until we liberate this territory. After that, an appropriate law is being worked out, to officially renounce this passport and return to normal life”,– he explained.
At the same time, Deputy Prime Minister – Minister for the Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, Iryna Vereshchuk, recommended not to take Russian passports in the temporarily occupied territories, and if possible, leave from there and wait for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“My recommendations to Ukrainians at the TOT remain unchanged: do not take Russian passports, do not cooperate with the occupiers, leave if possible, wait for the Armed Forces of Ukraine”,- summed up Iryna Vereshchuk.
Why did Ukrainian officials disagree and what could be the consequences of obtaining a Russian passport in the occupied territories?
According to the lawyer, lawyer of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center Volodymyr Liashenko, there is no unambiguously correct answer to the question to take or not to take and any situation depends on specific life circumstances. But in each specific case, it is necessary to clearly assess the risks that await a person if he receives an illegal Russian passport. And these are risks not from Ukraine, but from the occupier.
“The best option, of course, is precisely the proposal: do not take it, leave and believe in the Armed Forces of Ukraine! But, unfortunately, the realities of life since 2014 show that not everyone can choose this option and some, due to life circumstances, are forced to stay in the temporarily occupied territory, and therefore are forced to somehow legalize their existence in this territory for the sake of survival”,- he added.
The lawyer explained that if there is no way to leave, he would still advise trying to obtain not Russian passports, but Russian documents, which will allow you to live in this territory without violating the occupation legislation, but without receiving a passport, for example, permanent residence permit.
“This will allow, to a certain extent, to protect against the arbitrariness of the occupants and, in particular for men, from the possibility of being mobilized into the ranks of the occupying army. Obtaining Russian passports is, in my opinion, the worst possible scenario in terms of security, because then the Russians will consider the owner of such a passport their citizen with all the ensuing consequences. That is, for example, men with such passports can very quickly find themselves in the ranks of the occupying army, and the fate of the occupying soldiers is well known. Moreover, the occupying authorities can simply prohibit the holders of Russian passports from traveling outside the territory of Russia, and then these people will lose the opportunity to leave both the occupied territories and the territory of Russia”,- the expert noted.