British Intelligence: Russia Resorting to Forced Passportisation of Ukrainians to Present Occupation As Success

The so-called “authorities” in the occupied territories of Ukraine, made up of Russians and local collaborators, are coercing local residents into accepting Russian passports. The forced passportisation of Ukrainians is an attempt to tie these territories to the Russian Federation and to demonstrate the apparent success of a large-scale invasion.

This is stated in the intelligence report by the British Ministry of Defence dated 24 April.

The intelligence cites as an example the fact that residents in the Kherson region have been threatened with deportatation and property seizures if they do not accept a Russian passport by 01 June 2023.

“Russia is using passports as a tool in the ‘Russification’ of the occupied areas, as it did in Donetsk and Luhansk before the February 2022 invasion. Russia is likely expediating the integration of the occupied areas of Ukraine into the bureaucracy of the Russian Federation to help paint the invasion as a success, especially in the run-up to the 2024 presidential elections,” reads the report.

Earlier, the National Resistance Centre reported that the occupiers began to carry out “passportisation” at the place of residence of pensioners in the temporarily occupied areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. In fact, this is an element of pressure on socially vulnerable sections of the population that depend on the occupation administration.

Bohdan Marusyak