THE PROBLEM OF STATELESSNESS IN UKRAINE AND THE WAYS OF ADDRESSING IT in this world. In 2007, he found himself in Ukraine for the first time. Then he went back to the Russian Federation without obstacles, then to Belarus. It is there that he was detained again and transferred to the migration service in Minsk. The Migration Service of the Republic of Belarus sent an official inquiry to relevant bodies of the Russian Federation as to Shygun’s Russian citizenship. The reply did not confirm his Russian citizenship. During his second visit to Ukraine in 2011, Dima was detained by officers of the State Border Guard Service and sent to the temporary detention center for foreigners and stateless persons in Chernihiv oblast (TDC). There, he managed to obtain qualified legal aid for the first time from a lawyer of Pravo na Zakhyst25, a non-governmental organization and UNHCR’s implementing partner for refugees. Since UNHCR’s mandate also covers stateless persons, Pravo na Zakhyst lawyers continued to deal with Shygun’s case. First of all, they sent an inquiry to the Consulate of the Russian Federation about Dima’s Russian citizenship. The Consulate’s reply did not confirm his citizenship. After staying at the TDC for 1 year, Shygun received a temporary residence permit in Ukraine pursuant to Article 4(17) of the Law of Ukraine on the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons which provides that foreigners and stateless persons, . It is his first-ever document certifying his identity. The “citizenship” field of the document reads “SP”, meaning a stateless person. Hence, the first steps in documenting Dima Shygun have been made. However, they are far from being the last ones, since a temporary residence permit is issued to this category of persons for one year only. 25 Prior to 2014 – HIAS. 32