Ukrainian residents in occupied regions face heating blackmail without Russian passport

The Center for National Resistance (CNS) reports that residents of Ukrainian-occupied territories by Russian forces face potential heating deprivation if they do not possess a Russian passport.

Russia has been systematically implementing multiple strategies to compel Ukrainian residents in occupied territories to obtain Russian citizenship, including administrative pressure, employment restrictions, and educational limitations.

These tactics represent a coordinated approach to forcible integration, effectively creating systemic barriers that make maintaining Ukrainian citizenship increasingly difficult and practically unsustainable.

Local collaborators threaten to withhold heating services from residents who do not renegotiate their heat supply contracts. The renegotiation process requires residents to re-register property ownership under Russian Federation laws and obtain a Russian passport.

“The enemy once again violates international humanitarian law and forces Ukrainians to obtain a Russian passport, as it does not recognize the right of the Ukrainian nation to exist,” the CNS statement reports.

According to the report, the systematic approach appears designed to pressure local populations into accepting Russian administrative control.

The Russian authorities in occupied Luhansk launched the heating season on 17 October, claiming warm radiators in schools and hospitals.

However, the actual situation contradicts these claims, with no social institutions receiving heat, and local boiler launches postponed for at least another three weeks.

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