The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, on June 6 passed a bill to simplify issuing permanent residency permits and citizenship to pro-Ukrainian foreign combatants who have fought in the Donbas.
The law was promoted by a large part of Ukraine’s veteran community since as far back as November 2015. It was eventually supported in the second reading by 230 of the country’s lawmakers.
In particular, it aims to remedy a deadlock in which foreigners who have fought for Ukraine or are serving in Ukraine’s military are unable to legalize their residency in the country. They have also faced severe challenges in getting Ukrainian citizenship due to bureaucratic obstacles.
The bill states that all foreign nationals who have provided training to the Armed Forces or any other Ukrainian combat formations, including volunteer battalions, deployed to the Donbas war zone, or have personally participated in hostilities, and have got permanent residency permits, are now considered to be living in Ukraine on completely legal grounds.
This provision will work until the end of Russia’s occupation of parts of Ukraine – even in the case their national passports have expired.
Foreign combatants can apply for permanent residency permits by filing application requests, accompanied by an official letter from Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense or other agency engaged with fighting in the Donbas. The personal support of a commanding officer of a lawfully functioning Ukrainian combat formation can also be relied on by a foreign applicant seeking legalized status in Ukraine.
If the ministry and a combat formation refuse to give a submission, an applicant has the right to appeal to a court.
Further provisions are meant to simplify the procedures of getting permanent residency permits for citizens of countries like Russia and Belarus, which can persecute the applicants over their involvement in hostilities in Donbas if they fought on Ukraine’s side.
Some people won’t be able to benefit from the new system. Citizens of countries that have committed aggression against Ukraine (Russia, according to Ukrainian legislation) or a state that fails to recognize Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, fails to recognize the unlawful nature of infringements against Ukraine, will all be ineligible. T
This will also be the case for all 11 countries who voted against the United Nations General Assembly resolution No. 68/262 on Ukraine’s territorial integrity in late March 2014, following Russia’s annexation of Crimea: Armenia, Belarus, Bolivia, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, North Korea, Cuba, Nicaragua, Russia, Syria, and Sudan.
Moreover, the law partly resolves another burning issue: Ukraine’s extradition of friendly foreign combatants persecuted in their home countries. For instance, in September 2018, Russian national and pro-Ukrainian Donbas combatant Timur Tumgoyev was extradited to Russia at the request of its FSB security service, which had accused Tumgoyev of participating in a radical Islamist group in Syria.
The law states that citizens of the above-mentioned list of countries cannot be deported from Ukraine.
Such permanent residence permits will be active for three years, the law reads. Foreign citizens drawing a contract service in the military are also considered legally residing in Ukraine.
In particular, the bill rids foreign fighters of the necessity to officially renounce foreign citizenship and give up passports. Instead, friendly combatants with residency permits must only file their declaration of withdrawing from their foreign nationality.
The law also removes a number of criteria for obtaining Ukrainian citizenship, such as the provision to lawfully reside in the country for at least 5 years.
The law could enter into force two months after being published, and within six months after the regulations take effect. Those willing can already apply for their permanent residency permits.
The bill has been actively promoted for years by its principal author, lawmaker Andriy Biletskiy, the leader of the National Corps far-right party and founder of the Azov Regiment, currently part of Ukraine’s National Guard.
Biletskiy, together with the National Corps activists, has held a number of rallies in support of the bill, with the latest one taking place near the Rada and the Presidential Administration on June 6 during the voting.
However, critics say such a law could pave the way for the obtaining of Ukrainian citizenship by some foreigners associated with the Azov Regiment, which is often accused of harboring far-right radicals and Neo-Nazis. They reject such accusations.
For a number of foreigners fighting in Ukraine trapped in legislation limbo for years, this law nonetheless represents the hope of removing all bureaucratic hurdles to obtaining Ukrainian citizenship and resolving all legal issues of their residing in Ukraine.
One of them is Alexandr Molchanov, a Belarusian national drawing a contract service at Ukraine’s armed forces.
Like others, he is willing to become a Ukrainian citizen, and he is even qualified to apply for citizenship without having served in the military for at least 3 years – due to having been decorated with the Defender of the Motherland medal.
“I’ve already approached the migration service officials,” Molchanov told the Kyiv Post.
“They’re willing to help me, but I need a criminal history clearance from Belarus. Due to obvious reasons, I can’t go there and get this document. If this certificate is not required anymore (under the new legislation) — there should be no obstacles to my obtaining the citizenship.”
