Registration of Births and Deaths Falsified in Occupied Areas of Donbas

The registration of births and deaths is significantly falsified in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Minister of Justice of Ukraine Denys Maliuska said in an interview with Radio Liberty.

“We have revealed fairly large-scale falsifications of registration of births and deaths… For example, some people register death to illegally re-register the ownership of real estate or register birth to receive the birth allowance. We do not have an opportunity to check thoroughly the documents submitted for registration and go through the relevant processes. Accordingly, we have revealed a fairly large amount of falsified data,” the minister said.

He also pointed out the existence of a bureaucratic problem. “We understand which data are untrue. However, in order to remove these data from the register, a court ruling is required. To get a court ruling, a lawsuit must be filed. To file a lawsuit, fees must be paid. In this respect, we are talking about several million [hryvnias]. And we do not have such money in the budget yet,” Maliuska said.

He expressed hope that this “bureaucratic aspect” would be corrected in time.

Bohdan Marusyak