local office of Ukraine’s State Migration Service in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. However, people have problems passing through checkpoints along the way from Kharkiv to Luhansk Oblast, for example, without identity documents. On top of this, these people often do not have the financial or physical ability to travel to the region where they are registered, which makes it difficult for them to obtain a passport. For its part, Ukraine’s State Migration Service recommends that people from non-government controlled territories prove their right to Ukrainian citizenship by establishing their residence on the territory of Ukraine as of August 24, 1991 or November 13, 1991. This makes it hard to understand the right to nationality, since most people from non-government controlled territories first obtained their Ukrainian passports as people whose parent or parents were citizens of Ukraine at the time of their birth (Article 7 of the Law “On Citizenship of Ukraine”) or were Ukrainian citizens in light of Article 3 of the Law “On Citizenship of Ukraine.” Now they must also establish the fact of their residence or their parents’ residence in Ukraine as of the above dates in court proceedings to confirm that they are Ukrainian citizens. People who have been left without identity documents as a result of the conflict are particularly vulnerable and face the risk of statelessness. A report on the situation with human rights in Ukraine for the period of May 16, 2018 to August 15, 2018 prepared by the OHCHR describes a case where a person without any identity documents was repeatedly arrested by both sides along the line of contact.26 People who were imprisoned prior to the conflict and released in a territory not controlled by Ukraine are in particular danger of statelessness. In many cases, these people do not have valid documents, which restricts their freedom of movement and puts them at risk of arrest. The OHCHR report cited above describes a case where a man who was released from a detention facility and who did not have identity documents tried to cross the line of contact to territory controlled by Ukraine three times without success. During one attempt, he was arbitrarily detained on territory controlled by armed groups and was held in detention for approximately one week without any connection to the outside world and subjected to cruel treatment and torture. On top of that, he was repeatedly arrested for not having identity documents.27 People who left Ukraine after the annexation of Crimea and the conflict with Russia in the east of the country and lost their documents for some reason are also at a legal dead end. They are not able to return to Ukraine because they cannot confirm their Ukrainian citizenship or obtain a document about their Ukrainian citizenship 26 Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Report on the Human Rights Situation in Ukraine 16 May to 15 August 2018, paragraph 62, https://www.ohchr.org/ Documents/Countries/UA/ReportUkraineMay-August2018_EN.pdf 27 Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Report on the Human Rights Situation in Ukraine 16 May to 15 August 2018, paragraph 58, https://www.ohchr.org/ Documents/Countries/UA/ReportUkraineMay-August2018_EN.pdf 15