Putin’s decree on "legalisation" of Ukrainians violates number of international legal documents - Foreign Ministry
The decree of Russian dictator Putin, according to which all Ukrainian citizens who are in Russia without "legal grounds for residence" must leave the country by 10 September 2025 or "legalise" themselves, is a null and void act.
This was stated by Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi during a briefing, Censor.NET reports.
"Yesterday we saw another Russian decree. This is not the first such document, which provides for the forced expulsion of Ukrainian citizens who are in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and in the territory of the Russian Federation without so-called ‘legal grounds’. We believe that this is a null and void act. It is the next step in Russia's campaign of discrimination, persecution and forced displacement of Ukrainian citizens from their homeland or forcing them to acquire foreigner status," he said.
The Foreign Ministry stressed that Russia continues to violate fundamental norms of international law.
"With this decree, it violates at least 3 international legal documents. First, it is the Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. It contains Article 49, which explicitly prohibits the deportation or transfer of the civilian population of an occupied territory, and Article 147, which defines the forcible transfer of civilians as a grave war crime.
The second document is the Convention on the Laws and Customs of War on Land, the so-called Hague Convention of 1907. It contains Article 46, which guarantees respect for the nationality and rights of persons in the occupied territories, and Article 50, which prohibits collective punishment and coercive measures against the civilian population.
The third document is the UN General Assembly resolution 2022, which demands that Russia stop violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, in particular by forcibly deporting the population," the spokesman explained.
As a reminder, on 20 March 2025, dictator Vladimir Putin signed a decree according to which all Ukrainian citizens staying in Russia without "legal grounds for residence" must leave the country by 10 September 2025 or "legalise" themselves.
