“Legal nonsense”: a draft law on confiscation of property from residents of Donbass who received a Russian passport was submitted to Rada

On Tuesday, June 4, a draft law was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, which, judging by its name, suggests the confiscation of property from residents of Donbass, who received Russian citizenship. The corresponding document was submitted to the Ukrainian parliament by the deputy Oleg Musiy.

At the moment there are no details on the content of the bill, on the website of the Verkhovna Rada until published only information about the registration of the project called "The Law on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine regarding the civil confiscation of property of persons - citizens of Ukraine who voluntarily received citizenship of the Russian Federation and live in certain areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. "

Recall that residents of the self-proclaimed republics of Donbass at the end of April received the right to receive Russian citizenship in a simplified manner when Russian President Vladimir Putin, on humanitarian grounds, signed a decree. According to a survey conducted later in the DPR and the LPR, the overwhelming majority of residents of the republics would like to receive Russian passports.

However, on the eve of June 3, the Russian Interior Ministry reported on the implementation of the presidential decree. So, in the Rostov region, four temporary migration points for receiving and issuing documents are deployed and equipped with all necessary equipment. There, immigration officers take papers for registration of citizenship of the Russian Federation from official representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the self-proclaimed republics of Donbass.

“To date, several thousand applications have been made for the acquisition of Russian citizenship, which will be considered within three months ... The decision will be received as soon as possible after the completion of all verification activities,” the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported.

They also noted that citizens of Ukraine who temporarily or permanently reside or stay temporarily in Russia can also apply to the territorial bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for applications to provide them with Russian passports.

Commenting on the bill submitted to the Verkhovna Rada on the possible confiscation of property of Donbass residents, the representative of the Batkivshchyna Party expressed an opinion in a conversation with RT that imposing additional sanctions against Ukrainians in the east of the country would negatively affect the attitude towards Kiev in this region.

“The deputies want to do everything so that people in the east of the country never want to return to Ukraine. I have no doubt that the deputies will agree to impose sanctions on citizens in the east. Then there is no need to be surprised at this attitude of local residents, ”the source said.

At the same time, the source of RT in the Radical Party noted that the policy of the Ukrainian authorities is largely directed against residents of the regions: “In Ukraine, you can only live in Kiev. All others must comply with the requirements of the central authorities. How ordinary people actually survive, few people care about. And it's scary. ”

• The building of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in Kiev
• RIA News

"Another Russophobic law"

According to Oleg Morozov, a member of the international committee of the Federation Council, so far no legislation provides for fiscal measures related to changes in citizenship. That is, for objective reasons, a person is deprived of certain civil rights in a particular country (for example, electoral), property rights may in some cases be limited, but confiscation is out of the question, the senator stressed.

“It is doubtful that the initiative will receive support, and if it does, it will be an absolute legal nonsense, because the property was acquired legally and only legally can be withdrawn. These methods and reasons for seizure must be clearly stated in the law and have nothing to do with the presence or absence of citizenship, ”explained the source.

He added that such actions only repel the Republic of Donbass from Kiev amid the already difficult situation in the region.

“Another Russophobic law, which once again confirms that the residents of Donbass for Ukrainian parliamentarians, Ukrainian politicians and the Ukrainian elite as a whole are second-rate people,” said member of the Council on Interethnic Relations under the President of the Russian Federation, Bogdan Bezpalko.

“Let them first confiscate the property of Mr Kolomoisky, who has three citizenships, let them check citizenship or residence permit of other politicians, parliamentarians, ownership - and then they confiscate all this, and then they will think about the residents of Donbass” He added.

The expert stated that, firstly, very good reasons are necessary for the confiscation of property, and secondly, it is not clear how in Kiev they will determine the presence of Russian citizenship among certain residents of Donbas republics.

“Most likely, he will work in principle against any resident of Donbass who can be accused of allegedly having Russian citizenship and taking away property ... This does not add any positive to the necessary negotiation process between the republics and Ukraine”, - summed Bezpalko.