Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree defining the procedure for accepting foreign citizens to serve in the Russian Armed Forces. It is published on the portal of legal acts.
Now Russians with a second citizenship will be drafted into the army for military service and under a contract. In accordance with the decree, military service is carried out by “soldiers, sailors, sergeants, foremen who are citizens of the [Russian Federation], including those who have citizenship (nationality) of a foreign state or a residence permit or other document confirming the right to permanent residence of a citizen on territory of a foreign state.
At the same time, a contract cannot be concluded with a foreigner with a guilty verdict or an unexpunged conviction, as well as with respect to whom an investigation is underway. Citizens subjected to administrative punishment for drug use will not be able to serve either.
At the end of September, the process of obtaining citizenship was simplified for foreigners who signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense and went to fight in the Russian army.
The State Duma adopted the law immediately in the second and third readings. The document regulates extremely simple conditions for obtaining citizenship by foreigners who have signed a one-year contract for service in the Russian army. The war in Ukraine is presented by the Russian authorities as an opportunity to obtain a passport "without a long wait and other bureaucratic obstacles."
Prior to the adoption of this law, in order to obtain Russian citizenship in a simplified manner, foreigners had to serve in the Russian Armed Forces under a contract for at least three years.
In September, the Kyrgyz embassy in Russia reminded its citizens that participation in the war in Ukraine threatens them with imprisonment for up to 10 years.
