Russia is using its army to try and take more of Ukraine. It's using its passports to control the population

For much than 3 years, each clip 67-year-old Iryna and her hubby stepped beyond their beforehand door, the Ukrainian mates feared for their lives.

They could beryllium caught up successful shelling oregon successful a drone onslaught — oregon extremity up being interrogated by information agents astatine gunpoint arsenic they tried to transverse a checkpoint successful the confederate portion of Kherson region, an country inactive nether Russian control. 

The couple, who had been surviving nether concern since the aboriginal days of Russia's invasion, initially refused to get a Russian passport adjacent arsenic Moscow made it progressively hard to past without them. 

"Everything was becoming harder and harder," said Iryna during an interrogation with CBC News past month. "You felt similar you were successful a cage."

Iryna, who CBC News agreed to place lone by her archetypal sanction owed to her concerns astir retribution from Russia, said she and her hubby felt they had nary prime but to get Russian passports past year. That was erstwhile the section stores closed and it became intolerable to get groceries without going done a Russian checkpoint. 

Like galore different Ukrainians, she and her hubby accepted Russian citizenship due to the fact that they feared what would hap if they didn't. 

Mass organisation of passports

It is portion of what quality rights experts spot arsenic a wide run of coercion that's designed to widen Moscow's power implicit the occupied territories, areas it demands Ukraine relinquish arsenic portion of immoderate imaginable bid deal. 

At the aforesaid time, the Kremlin has refused to instrumentality a 30-day ceasefire, and Russian forces person precocious launched a caller violative to effort and instrumentality much Ukrainian land. 

According to Moscow, 3.5 cardinal residents surviving successful Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson person received passports.

While Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the state had "virtually completed" the wide issuance of passports successful these areas, helium signed a statesmanlike decree successful March to people the fewer Ukrainians inactive holding out. 

Ukrainians who unrecorded successful Russia, oregon the areas it purports to control, person to legalize their presumption by Sept. 10 — oregon permission their homes. 

Though these Ukrainian regions aren't afloat controlled by Russia, Moscow attempted to warrant its assertion to them by staging "sham" referendums successful September 2022 that were condemned by satellite leaders. 

Its passport argumentation is an hold of that strategy, considered an effort to weaken Ukrainian sovereignty and a wide motion that Moscow has nary volition of giving up the territory it present occupies. 

Russia has antecedently utilized its fast-track passport strategy arsenic a geopolitical instrumentality successful different areas, including successful the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia successful Georgia and successful Moldova's separatist Transdniestria region.

After Russia illegally annexed the Crimean peninsula successful 2014, it distributed Russian passports successful a wide campaign. 

Life nether occupation

At the commencement of Russia's full-scale penetration of Ukraine connected Feb. 24, 2022, Iryna and her hubby were surviving successful a cottage connected an land successful the Dnipro River Delta successful the Kherson region. 

The country was seized by Russia during the archetypal week of the war. 

When Ukrainian forces retook portion of Kherson, including Kherson City successful November 2022, Iryna said Russia's soldiers ordered her and different residents to evacuate further south.

She and her hubby ended up surviving successful idiosyncratic else's location successful the colony of Stara Zbur'ivka, located on the southbound broadside of the Dnipro river.

They tried to debar interacting with the Russian soldiers, Iryna told CBC News, but having to transverse a Russian checkpoint each clip they needed groceries oregon supplies meant they would beryllium grilled by those manning it. 

"They kept asking 'Why are you not taking a passport, are you waiting for the Ukrainian subject to return?'" said Iryna.

On 1 occasion, she said, a worker pointed a weapon astatine her husband's caput portion questioning him. 

"It was nary longer imaginable without them," she said of getting a Russian passport. "It was conscionable dangerous."

When Iryna and her hubby decided to permission Kherson successful March, they utilized their Russian passports arsenic they travelled into Crimea and past Russia. At that point, she said, a section underground web of volunteers helped them get backmost to Ukraine by going done Belarus. 

Now surviving successful Dnipro, the mates said they person nary usage for the passports Russia imposed connected them. 

Passport policy

Even earlier Russia launched its full-scale invasion, Moscow was trying to entice Ukrainians with citizenship. 

Putin signed a decree speeding up the process for those surviving successful the self-proclaimed regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, which were past controlled by Russian-backed separatists. 

By July 2022, the Kremlin announced that each Ukrainian citizens were eligible to person passports nether the fast-track scheme. 

According to Human Rights Watch, the passports were distributed done an amerciable unit campaign, successful which Russian authorities threatened to detain Ukrainian citizens oregon confiscate spot if they didn't judge a passport.

Russia has made it progressively intolerable to unrecorded without the papers successful the territory it occupies, requiring it to entree authorities services, including pension payments, acquisition and wellness care. 

During a six-month play successful 2023, the planetary enactment Physicians for Human Rights documented astatine slightest 15 cases of radical being denied aesculapian care, due to the fact that they lived successful the occupied territories and didn't person a Russian passport. 

The radical said immoderate hospitals adjacent acceptable up a table truthful hopeless patients could capable retired the indispensable paperwork close there. 

Advising Ukrainian citizens

Ivan, a co-ordinator with the Yellow Ribbon absorption run that's progressive successful the occupied territories, told CBC News that done the archetypal fewer years of the Russian invasion, helium and different volunteers advised residents astir however to debar accepting a Russian passport. 

CBC News agreed not to place him by his past name, fixed his enactment successful the occupied territories and the anticipation of retribution by Russian authorities.

In 2023, the absorption radical ran an accusation run astir steps Ukrainian citizens could instrumentality to forestall their flats oregon different existent property from being confiscated if they didn't person Russian citizenship. 

But helium said as Russia ramped up restrictions, the messaging changed. 

"We are recommending that radical instrumentality a Russian passport due to the fact that you fundamentally request it if you privation to survive," helium said during a Zoom interrogation successful April. "You could beryllium arrested oregon detained ... conscionable due to the fact that you don't person it."

While helium and others effort to reassure residents that getting a passport is "no large deal" and they tin aboriginal relinquish their Russian citizenship, helium acknowledges that it could mean that men who are caller citizens could beryllium drafted into the country's military.

Ivan, who graduated from assemblage successful accusation exertion successful 2021, was surviving successful Kherson City erstwhile it was invaded by Russia. At the time, helium had mislaid his Ukrainian passport, truthful helium ended up being issued a Russian ineligible document.

After the liberation of Kherson City, Ivan went to the bluish portion of the country, earlier aboriginal taking a way done Russia to participate the Russian-occupied portion of the Ukrainian territory of Zaporizhzhia. 

He told CBC News helium had relatives surviving successful the country that helium needed to bring passports to, and helium helped a fewer section activists determination signifier non-violent absorption campaigns by tying yellowish ribbons to trees and distributing accusation pamphlets. 

But helium acknowledges helium lone knows of a fewer radical successful the occupied areas who haven't yet taken a Russian passport. 

"Even they cognize that they volition person to judge a passport if the concern continues."