British intelligence has deemed the decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 20 as a new wave of "Russification policy" in illegally occupied parts of Ukraine.
The decree mandated that Ukrainian citizens "illegally" staying in Russia must obtain Russian documents of leave before Sept. 10.
"Putin's decree is almost certainly intended to force the departure from Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory of Ukrainian nationals who refuse to accept Russian passport and citizenship," the British intelligence report said.
"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," according to the statement.
The intelligence added that Russia "erroneously and illegally" defines both occupied and unoccupied Ukrainian territory in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia oblasts, as well as Crimea, as part of Russia.
The British intelligence statement comes after the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff openly parroted Russian propaganda about the five Ukrainian regions in an interview with American far-right political commentator Tucker Carlson.
Witkoff said that the occupied and illegally annexed Crimea and parts of Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts are Russian-speaking and "indicated that they want to be under Russian rule" in referendums.
Russia illegally annexed fully occupied Crimea in 2014 and partially occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts in 2022, following sham referendums at gunpoint rejected by the international community as null and void.
It had since systemically terrorized Ukrainian civilians and committed war crimes in Ukrainian sovereign territories, de facto treating them as its own regions.
Natalia Yermak
(Updated: )
