These two orders became an extension of amendments to Russian laws:
previously, in December 2018, amendments to the Law on RF Citizenship were
adopted (these entered into force on March 29, 2019), which somewhat expedited
applications for Russian citizenship for participants in a program to resettle fellow
Russians and which gave the Russian president the right “to define categories of
foreign nationals and stateless persons who have the right to apply for Russian
citizenship under a simplified procedure for humanitarian purposes, as well as the
procedure for issuing these people the corresponding applications and a list of
documents to be submitted.” Under these amendments, simplified procedure means
that these people do not need to renounce their existing citizenship (in the context of
this report, this means that they do not have to file an application to renounce their
citizenship with the authorized agencies in Ukraine).
These two orders also define several new and different groups of Ukrainian
citizens that have gained access to the simplified procedure: Order No. 183 refers
to Ukrainian citizens who are residents and natives of the self-proclaimed DPR
and LPR who are currently located on these territories, and Order No. 187 refers
to a) Ukrainian citizens and stateless persons who were residents and natives of
the DPR and LPR and who, as of April 7 and April 27, 2014, respectively, had
left specifically and only for Russia and have a permit for temporary or permanent
residence in Russia and/or are participating in a voluntary resettlement program,
have refugee documents, or are asylum seekers; b) Ukrainian citizens and stateless
persons who are natives or former residents of Sevastopol and Crimea in general,
who left these areas prior to March 18, 2014 (the destination country is not specified,
unlike the previous subclause, which specifies Russia); c) people of any nationality
who themselves were deported from the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist
Republic or whose direct ancestors were deported from there. Notably, natives and
former residents of the DPR and LPR who do not currently live in Russia, but in some
other country, do not have access to the simplified procedure.
The fact that current and former residents of the DPR and LPR are mentioned
in both orders and that these orders specify different requirements for applicants
depending on their place of residence has already given rise to confusion about the
application of the new rules and to discrimination against several groups of people
who are not able to apply under the simplified process (given the overall offensive
nature of these orders).
For example, Order No. 187, which concerns natives and former residents
of the DPR and LPR located in Russia, stipulates more complicated requirements
for applicants: along with a detailed list of documents, they must also supply a
medical certificate attesting to the absence of drug addiction, HIV infection,
and other diseases, which are the same requirements made of people applying
for temporary or permanent residence (both under “general procedures” and
“simplified procedures”). Order No. 183, which concerns people who currently
live in the DPR and LPR, does not require a medical certificate from applicants
(which is also not required under the regular procedure), and the list of required
21