London: Putin decree urges Ukrainians to obtain Russian passports

Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin is pressuring Ukrainians in Russia and in occupied territories in their home country to take Russian citizenship or live elsewhere, according to British intelligence on Saturday.

Putin signed a decree on Thursday that obliges Ukrainian citizens residing in affected territories to "settle their legal status" by September 10, or leave the area, the Ministry of Defence in London wrote in its latest intelligence update on the Ukraine war.

"Putin's decree is almost certainly intended to force the departure from Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory of Ukrainian citizens who refuse to accept Russian passports and citizenship," the report shared on X said.

The Kremlin continues to pursue a policy of "Russification" on illegally occupied territory in Ukraine as part of "long-standing efforts to extirpate Ukrainian culture, identity and statehood," it added.

Russia illegally considers the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed over a decade ago, as well as the partially occupied regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson, annexed in 2022, to be part of Russia, the update noted.