Russia recognizes occupied, unoccupied parts of Ukraine as its own illegally and mistakenly – British intelligence
Vladimir Putin's decree, which obliged Ukrainian citizens living in Ukrainian territory illegally occupied by Russia to leave or "settle their legal status" by September 10, is aimed at expelling those of them who refuse to accept Russian citizenship, the British intelligence service noted in a statement.
"Putin's decree is almost certainly intended to force the departure from Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory of Ukrainian nationals who refuse to accept Russian passports and citizenship. Putin and the Russian senior leadership continue to prosecute a Russification policy in illegally occupied Ukrainian territory, as part of longstanding efforts to extirpate Ukrainian culture, identity and statehood," the intelligence service wrote on X.
British intelligence also points to the illegality of the Russian side's recognition of Ukrainian territories as its own.
"Russia erroneously and illegally defines both occupied and unoccupied Ukrainian territory in the Ukrainian oblasts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, Kherson, as well as Crimea, as being part of the Russian Federation. This is in direct contradiction with Russia's own stated recognition of Ukraine's independence and sovereignty following the collapse of the Soviet Union, as well as broader international recognition of Ukraine," the report notes.
As reported, Putin signed the relevant decree on March 20. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine stated that Ukraine considers it a "null and void act," which "is another step in the Russian campaign to discriminate, persecute and forcibly expel citizens of Ukraine from their native land, or force them to acquire the status of a foreigner." "We emphasize that these systematic deportations and persecutions are part of the Russian policy of genocide against the Ukrainian people," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated.
In turn, the special envoy of US President Donald Trump, Steve Witkoff, called the biggest problem in the settlement of the war launched by the Russian Federation against Ukraine Crimea and "the so-called four regions: Donbas, Luhansk and two more" and the readiness to recognize them as Russian.
