On December 26, the president of the russian federation signed another worthless decree on the procedure for acquiring russian citizenship by citizens of Ukraine.

This time it concerns Ukrainian citizens who lived or live in the temporarily occupied parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions of Ukraine during the full-scale aggression of russia against our country.

The decree that approves simplified procedures for renunciation of Ukrainian citizenship and acquisition of russian citizenship is null and void, and testifies to russia’s unwillingness to negotiate, its leadership’s desire to continue the war, the absorption of the territory of Ukraine, forced assimilation and genocide of the Ukrainian people.

Forced imposition of russian citizenship on Ukrainian citizens, who as a result of russian aggression found themselves in inhuman conditions and were deprived of the fundamental right to free choice of citizenship, confirms the criminal nature of the totalitarian russian regime.

Particularly outrageous is the procedure of issuing russian passports, without consent of the recipients, to Ukrainian children and adolescents aged 14 to 18 years old forcibly displaced to the territory of the russian federation, which is a flagrant violation of fundamental human rights and proof of genocide of Ukrainians committed by russia.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine strongly condemns the enactment of this document, regards it as another crime of russia against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, which grossly violates the Constitution and laws of our country, current norms of international law and international obligations of russia.

The consequences of this and other worthless normative acts of the russian federation in relation to citizens of Ukraine will have no legal effect, will never be recognized by Ukraine or the vast majority of UN member states.

The decree adds to the list of crimes committed during the armed aggression of russia, which will be tried within the framework of the international tribunal against the leadership of the russian federation.