UPDATE FROM THE FEMINIST ANTI-WAR RESISTANCE

April 27, 2023

THE RUSSIAN STATE WILL TRY TO JUSTIFY THE FORCED DEPORTATION OF CHILDREN FROM UKRAINE BY USING THE “RENUNCIATION OF CITIZENSHIP’ PROCEDURE

“On the Federal Portal of Draft Regulatory Legal Acts, an order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia was published, which determines the “form of an application for unwillingness to be a citizen of Ukraine”. An application on behalf of a child under 14 years of age can be written by a representative of a medical, educational or social organization, guardian or adopter of a child left without parental care.

That means, the guardians of Ukrainian orphans should officially declare that the child no longer wants to have Ukrainian citizenship. Lawyers interviewed by Verstka Media believe that in this way it will be possible to justify the transfer of Ukrainian children or hide information about them from Ukraine.

“From a legal point of view, this is complete nonsense and an impossible construction,” says lawyer Nina Boer. — The authorities of one country cannot decide on the rights and obligations of a person within another country. This is the issue which a citizen of Ukraine should decide only with Ukraine. This document is on the level of very backward regimes.”

According to the office of the Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Russian Federation, Maria Lvova-Belova, at the moment, 380 children from Donbass have managed to obtain Russian citizenship and get into foster families. Boer suggests that if the developed applications from guardians or adoptive parents really start to be accepted, this may block the requests of the Ukrainian side to the Russian authorities and will allow hiding data about children who ended up in foster families.

There is supposition that the initiative could be used for “internal propaganda” in response to a warrant from the International Criminal Court in The Hague.”