other tasks relating to the defense of the state;
- Reservists – persons liable for military service who, on a voluntary basis, carry out
military service in the reserve of the armed forces and other military formations.”
Statelessness in Russian and Ukraine
ADC Memorial, Statelessness in Russia and Ukraine: possible ways to overcome the problem, 24 June 2016
[Click on the hyperlink for more information on: documentation in territories of Donetsk and Luhansk,
registration of children born in non-government controlled areas, expulsion of Ukrainian citizens from
Russia into the combat zones]
“Even though decades have passed since the fall of the Soviet Union, the problems of statelessness, whose
roots reach way back into the past, have yet to be overcome in either Russia or Ukraine. The laws and
practices of both countries are unfriendly to stateless persons, most of whom are citizens of the former
Soviet Union. Ukraine now faces the challenges of adapting laws and practice to the Convention Relating
to the Status and of Stateless Persons (1954) and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (1961).
Russia, which agreed with recommendations made within the framework of the Universal Periodic Review
(2018) concerning accession to these Conventions, must implement the ECtHR’s strategic judgment in the
case of “Kim v. Russia” and the subsequent RF Constitutional Court judgment in the case of Mskhiladze.
In the absence of general measures, systemic violations of the rights of stateless persons continue. These
include the practices of confining stateless persons in foreign national temporary detention centers for
an indefinite period without judicial control and of ordering expulsions that cannot be enforced. Both
countries must adopt urgent positive measures to improve the situation of the Roma minority, including
in relation to documentation. The matter of the citizenship of residents of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts
who are now governed by the self-proclaimed DPR and LPR is particularly critical in light of the military
conflict. Russian passports issued to residents of these territories under simplified procedures are not
recognized by Ukraine and will likely be boycotted by other countries as well. This means that holders of
these passports may be deprived of their Ukrainian citizenship. Children born in these territories who do
not have any documents other than the ones issued by the de facto authorities are now hostage to this
situation.”
Barriers to protection in Ukraine and/or in neighbouring countries
ENS, ENS Newsletter, June, 30 June 2022
“ENS was able to catch up with Oleksandr Snitko, Statelessness Project Manager at the Tenth of April
(‘Desyate Kvitnya’), an ENS member organisation based in Odesa, Ukraine. [...] Freedom of movement of
stateless people was heavily impacted, […] people faced greater challenges earning money. For example,
if people had to checkpoints to get to work, they wouldn't be allowed to pass without documentation.
[...] Undocumented people faced huge barriers and were often not permitted to cross the border. [...]
Movement towards the west has been particularly difficult and sometimes it is also difficult for
undocumented people to return to Ukraine. […]”
“Back in April the European Commission asserted that ‘Temporary Protection applies to everyone fleeing
the war from Ukraine’. Yet our analysis of routes to protection for stateless people from Ukraine shows
that two months later many stateless people still find themselves outside the scope of this protection”
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