Russia speeds up granting of Russian passports to occupation troops in Donbas - intelligence

Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzianyk said this at a briefing on Thursday.

"According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, the Russian occupation command is taking active measures to speed up the receipt of Russian passports by the personnel of the units of the first (Donetsk) and second (Luhansk) army corps of the Russian Armed Forces," he said.

In particular, the powerful propaganda of the simplified procedure for acquiring Russian citizenship has been launched, with commanders of the units specifying the information on servicemen who were issued with the passports of the so-called "DPR/LPR" and who have no passports at all. At the same time, only those who have their documents that can serve as identity cards (passports, military service cards, driver's licenses) seized are being included in the lists of those eligible for fast-tracked Russian passports.

At the same time, according to Motuzianyk, local servicemen are trying to avoid receiving Russian citizenship since they were deprived of the right to freely travel to the territory controlled by Ukraine and there is a high probability that they could be sent "to the front line to defend Russia's interests."

op