Why Russia is imposing its passports on Ukrainians in the occupied territories – Special Operations Forces explain

VALENTYNA ROMANENKO – SUNDAY, 10 JULY 2022, 14:27

The invader is using Russian passportisation (the mass conferral of citizenship) in the temporarily occupied territories to legalise the occupation, and residents are being warned about the risks of obtaining a piece of "red waste paper".

Source: The National Resistance Centre set up by the Special Operations Forces (SOF) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Quote: "By issuing their own pieces of paper, which in Russia are called ‘passports’, the occupier is pursuing a number of goals. The main one is to legalise the occupation.

First of all, if passports are distributed, then Russian propaganda will be able to continue promoting the narrative that Russians live in the region. Accordingly, we can say that the legend of their oppression is being superimposed on this layer.

Secondly, passports provide the Russians with data, which is then used to organise a pseudo-referendum. This ‘referendum’ is not recognised by any civilised country in the world, just as the referendums in eastern Ukraine or Crimea were not recognised. However, for the Russians themselves, this works as domestic propaganda.

The third factor is manpower. For men, a Russian passport is grounds for their mobilisation, which the Russians are actively conducting in the occupied territories. The Russians have exhausted almost all their resources in the so-called ‘Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics’, and therefore they are now preparing to mobilise men in the south of Ukraine."

Details: According to intelligence data, the Russians are failing at all rates with respect to the passportisation of the population in the occupied regions of the South. However, there are people who have obtained this piece of waste paper. There is a percentage that does this voluntarily, i.e. collaborators.

The Russians are artificially creating a social welfare and food crisis in the occupied territories. In particular, they block the receipt of Ukrainian pensions and other state-funded payments, leaving vulnerable sections of the population without any social assistance. Thus, people are being forced to get a passport. Even humanitarian aid is provided in exchange for obtaining a passport.

"In fact," the SOF notes, "the Russians are holding people hostage, because it is also impossible to leave the occupied territories and go directly to Ukraine, you can only go through Crimea, and that sort of journey costs money that not everyone has. So people on a low income are forced to stay in the occupied territories and are left without any means of subsistence. The only option for those who have not left or were not tortured in a basement is to get a passport."

At the same time, the Ukrainians living under occupation are still putting up heroic resistance. Despite the Russian terror, people continue to sabotage passportisation.

For the occupiers, men of military age who have become holders of "passports of the Russian Federation" are becoming a new resource for replenishing manpower.

A Russian passport holder is also subject to Russian law.

Quote: "A Russian piece of waste paper is a prisoner's certificate. Its holder cannot leave the territory controlled by the Kremlin. This piece of paper is not recognised by anyone and anchors the holder to this open-air hospice. Total sabotage can save you from this, in line with the resistance that is currently continuing in the occupied territories and by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The latter are already close."