Lawyers treat citizenship deprivation of two residents of Volgograd Region as unlawful

The deprivation of citizenship of two naturalized residents of the Volgograd Region for their failure to get timely registered for military service is contrary to the Russian Constitution and can be regarded as a repressive measure; however, a chance to overturn this ruling in court is low.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in the Volgograd Region, the citizenship of two migrants who became Russian citizens in the fall but failed to get registered for military service within two weeks was revoked.

In Southern Russia, authorities have launched an agitation campaign offering migrants from Central Asia, as well as those who recently received Russian citizenship, payments for sending them to the special military operation (SMO) zone in Ukraine; otherwise they are threatened with punishments. Another element of pressure was the new law, which allows depriving those who have failed to get registered for military service of their citizenship.

Alexander Verkhovsky, the director of the "Sova" Research Centre*, has explained that one's citizenship can be cancelled for a number of grave crimes or a threat to the country's security.

The practice of depriving people of their Russian citizenship is just beginning to gain momentum, "so it is still rare," Svetlana Gannushkina** believes. At the same time, according to her version, such a repressive measure "contradicts the Russian Constitution, since according thereto, a person cannot be deprived of his/her citizenship."

Roman Melnichenko, an expert in the international law, treats this incident as "exploitation of the citizenship institute," which, according to his story, turned out to be not only beneficial to authorities, but also generally fatal.

"Citizenship is a special condition that connects a person with the state, and this connection is inseparable. Over time, in Russia, the citizenship institute began losing its sacredness. Citizenship has become a commodity," Mr Melnichenko asserts.

Sergey Ivaschenko, a lawyer, has recalled that citizenship is guaranteed to Russians by the Constitution. But it is granted not only by birth, but also by adoption; and in this case citizenship can be cancelled "if a new citizen has committed a number of crimes or misled the state."

*On August 17, 2023, the First Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction approved the decision taken earlier in April by the Moscow City Court to liquidate the SOVA Human Rights Centre.

**Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.