For obtaining a Russian passport in Ukraine will face up to 15 years in prison

In Ukraine, a draft law on criminal liability for obtaining Russian citizenship has been agreed, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for the Reintegration of Uncontrolled Territories of Ukraine Irina Vereshchuk wrote in her Telegram channel. The bill provides for imprisonment for a term of five to 15 years.

If a Ukrainian civil servant receives a Russian passport, he can be imprisoned for a period of 10 to 15 years. Promoting Russian citizenship will result in imprisonment for five to eight years. For “forcing” citizens of Ukraine to obtain Russian passports and for creating conditions under which Ukrainians who have not received Russian citizenship will be restricted in their rights, punishment is provided in the form of imprisonment for a term of eight to 12 years.

Aleksey Arestovich, an adviser to the head of Vladimir Zelensky’s office, said earlier that all Ukrainians who voluntarily received Russian passports would be convicted of treason. At the same time, this punishment will not apply to those who received a Russian passport because of a pension or for other reasons, he specified.

The start of work on the bill became known on July 22. Then Vereshchuk said that the acquisition of Russian citizenship by Ukrainians, regardless of the circumstances, should be considered a crime. Later, she clarified that residents of those territories of Ukraine that are under the control of the Russian military are not threatened with criminal liability for obtaining a Russian passport if there are no grounds to suspect them of collaborationism.

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