Vladimir Putin signs a decree to grant Ukrainian children Russian citizenship

Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a decree granting Russian citizenship to illegally deported Ukrainian children.

Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets reported this.

Russian President Putin has signed Decree No. 11 on citizenship for foreigners. In particular, it refers to children from Ukraine.

According to Lubinets, the decree states that orphans and children left without parental care who are citizens of Ukraine can obtain Russian citizenship by Putin's personal decision without taking into account all or some of the requirements of federal law.

An application for such citizenship can be submitted by the heads of Russian organisations where the child is supervised. When filling out the application form, the heads do not need to indicate their place of residence or contact details, only the address and contacts at the applicant's place of work.

"I believe that the granting of Russian citizenship to children is done to ensure that there are no deported Ukrainian children 'legally' left on their territory... The transition of children from one national group to another, certainly through the granting of forced citizenship to children, is one of the signs of genocide," Lubinets said.

The Ombudsman emphasises that after Ukrainian children receive Russian citizenship, they can be adopted as Russians and then have their personal data changed.

"At some point, it may happen that not a single Ukrainian child will remain in the Russian Federation because all of them may become Russians within the next 3 months," Lubinets added.