BABIES IN KHERSON TO GET RUSSIA CITIZENSHIP

Moscow to register orphans, children born after invasion

As Ukrainian forces continued counterattacks to wrench back land in southern Ukraine, Russia took another step in its efforts to deepen its hold on the region: the proxy government in the Kherson region announced that all newborns would be granted Russian citizenship.

“Children born after 24 February in the Kherson region will automatically receive citizenship of the Russian Federation,” Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head of the Moscow-imposed regional administration, told the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, referring to the date of Russia’s invasion. Orphans will also be registered as Russian citizens, he said.

The move comes after President Vladimir Putin of Russia signed a decree to speed up the citizenship process for Ukrainians living in occupied territories and local authorities began issuing Russian passports to local residents. It is part of a broader effort by Moscow to integrate occupied territories with Russia.

Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, Hanna Maliar, said that Russian forces were clearly moving to make their presence in Kherson permanent.

“Russia has intensified the movement of families of Russian occupation forces to the Ukrainian settlements captured by the Russian aggressors, including the city of Kherson,” she said at a news conference Thursday. “The newcomers, or the so-called ‘Russian migrants,’ illegally move into vacant houses and apartments of Ukrainian citizens who have fled.”

But there are signs that Ukrainian guerrillas and loyalists living in occupied areas are complicating the Kremlin’s plans. Russian political proxies have been attacked, partisans have helped direct Ukrainian military strikes behind enemy lines, schoolteachers have refused to teach Russian curricula and many essential workers are refusing to work for local authorities who support Russia.

Natalia Humeniuk, the spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern military command, said that Ukrainian forces continued to make tactical gains in targeted counterattacks. They are now fighting in villages within 20 miles of the regional capital city of Kherson, according to the Ukrainian military. Russia has already given Russian citizenship to orphans from other parts of occupied Ukraine, prompting outrage in Kyiv.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of illegally taking some 200,000 children to Russia since the start of the war. That number, he said in a speech last month, includes children from orphanages, children taken with their parents and those separated from their families.

“The purpose of this criminal policy is not just to steal people, but to make those who are deported forget about Ukraine and unable to return,” he said.