Putin grants citizenship to foreigners in Russian military
(Baonghean.vn) - President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree granting the right to issue Russian passports to foreigners who have registered for military service in the country's armed forces or other military units during the Ukraine conflict, the Kremlin reported on its website on January 4.
According to the decree, family members of foreigners who have registered for military service will also have the right to acquire Russian citizenship. In addition, simplified naturalization rules will apply to foreigners who are discharged from the Russian armed forces during combat for health reasons, reach the age limit or expire their contract. Applications for Russian identity documents for foreigners will be considered within one month after the relevant documents are submitted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The decree says the deadline can be extended to three months if some data requires additional verification. The move could help solve the problem of extradition of foreigners who fought for Russia to other countries, according to Aleksandr Khinshtein, head of the State Duma's Information Policy Committee.
“Now the issue of extraditing veterans of the military campaign to other countries, where they will be punished as ‘mercenaries’, will be resolved. Russia does not extradite its citizens!” - Khinshtein wrote on Telegram.
Foreigners have been allowed to sign contracts with the Russian military since November 2022. However, the simplified path to citizenship previously only applied to those who committed to serve for at least a year.
Last month, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the number of “foreign volunteers” joining Russian military units had increased sevenfold over the past year. He did not disclose the exact number. Also on January 4, the Russian Defense Ministry released data on foreign mercenaries fighting on the side of Ukraine.
According to Russian estimates, more than 13,500 mercenaries have arrived in Ukraine since the conflict between Moscow and Kiev broke out in February 2022. A total of 5,900 mercenaries have been killed, while more than 5,600 have fled the battlefield. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the number of foreigners in the ranks of the Ukrainian army currently stands at more than 1,900./.