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National Resistance Center: New forced passportization strategy targets teens

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National Resistance Center: New forced passportization strategy targets teens
A high school destroyed by Russian shelling in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, July 2023. (Photo by Andriy Andriyenko/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Russian authorities in occupied regions of Ukraine are threatening to withhold high school certificates from students who do not agree to accept Russian passports, the National Resistance Center reported on Aug. 13.

In the Russian Federation, all citizens receive an internal passport at age 14.

According to the center, many Ukrainian teenagers in Russian-occupied regions have not applied for these passports. As a coercive measure, Russian proxies in these areas are leveraging high school certificates, refusing to grant them to students without a Russian passport.

"Moscow is not satisfied with the pace of Russian citizenship in the regions," the center said.

Forced passportization is an ongoing assault against Ukrainian civilians in the occupied areas of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts. Those who refuse to accept Russian passports are subject to intimidation, restrictions to social benefits, and possible violence.

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On the evening of June 24, 16-year-olds Tihran Ohannisian and Mykyta Khanhanov went for a walk in their hometown of Berdiansk, a Russian-occupied city in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The two got some street food, saw some friends, and discussed how they would celebrate Khanhanov’s 17…
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Abbey Fenbert

Senior News Editor

Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.

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