Zelensky orders PM to consider introducing exam for obtaining Ukrainian citizenship

That's according to the electronic petitions section on the website of the head of state, Ukrinform reports.

A respective petition was registered by Vitalii Kapustian on May 23 and received 26,578 votes (out of the required 25,000). The initiator of the petition explained that since 2014, when Russia started its war against Ukraine, almost 52,000 Russians have immigrated to Ukraine. More than 19,000 of them received Ukrainian citizenship.

Since a new active phase of the war started on February 24, 2022, the flow of Russian nationals wishing to obtain Ukrainian citizenship has not decreased. Currently, candidates do not need to know the Ukrainian language, history and laws of Ukraine to obtain Ukrainian citizenship. They need to submit a small list of documents and an application for citizenship.

"Such a system, with no even basic filters, allows all candidates to obtain citizenship and, in the future, not to make any efforts to integrate into Ukrainian society," the petition reads.

Therefore, the author of the document proposed introducing a mandatory exam for obtaining Ukrainian citizenship, which will consist of a test on the Ukrainian language, a test on the history of Ukraine, a test on knowledge of the Constitution of Ukraine, and the study of the National Anthem of Ukraine.