Mediazona: Almost 300,000 Ukrainians received Russian citizenship between February and October. Many had no choice.

Between the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine and the end of October, almost 300,000 Ukrainians received Russian citizenship, the independent outlet Mediazona reported on Friday, citing data from Russia’s Interior Ministry.

About 211,000 Ukrainians became Russian citizens between the start of April and the end of September. Immediately after the start of the full-scale invasion, the number of Ukrainian citizens applying for Russian passports sharply declined, but in July, when Vladimir Putin issued a decree creating a simplified process for Ukrainians to receive Russian citizenship, the number rose again.

In October, when Russia announced it would annex four Ukrainian regions, all residents of those territories were automatically granted the right to become Russian citizens upon taking the citizenship oath. Within a month, about 40,000 Russian passports were issued through that procedure. About 75 percent of them were issued in Russia’s Rostov region, while almost 2,500 were issued in the Moscow region, and about 2,000 were issued in Siberia and the Far East.

The number of Russian passports issued in Crimea rose sharply in October as well: 30,000 people received them within a single month. Mediazona noted that a significant portion of the new recipients were refugees who were effectively forced to apply for the passports since they’re necessary for receiving medical and social services.

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