Putin grants citizenship to foreigners serving in the Russian military.
(Baonghean.vn) - President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree granting Russian passports to foreigners who register 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 register for military service will also be entitled to Russian citizenship. In addition, simplified naturalization rules will apply to foreigners who are discharged from the Russian armed forces during combat due to health reasons, reaching the age limit, or the expiration of 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 states that the deadline can be extended to three months if additional data verification is needed. According to Aleksandr Khinshtein, head of the Information Policy Committee of the Russian State Duma (Lower House of Parliament), this move could help resolve the issue of extraditing foreigners who fought for Russia to other countries.
"Now the issue of extraditing veterans of the military campaign to other countries, where they would 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 previously simplified path to naturalization only applied to those who committed to serving for at least one year.
Last month, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stated that the number of "foreign volunteers" joining the country's military units had increased sevenfold over the past year. He did not disclose the exact figure. Also on January 4th, the Russian Ministry of Defense released data on foreign mercenaries fighting on the Ukrainian side.
According to Russian estimates, more than 13,500 mercenaries have arrived in Ukraine since the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv 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 Ministry of Defense, the number of foreigners in the Ukrainian army currently stands at over 1,900.
