Russian official: migrants should be stripped of citizenship if they refuse to fight in Ukraine

The Russian Investigations Committee chief has proposed that naturalised migrants refusing to sign up to fight for Russia in Ukraine should be stripped of Russian citizenship, the Committee’s press office reported on Friday.

“I think we need to use them [migrants] in the special military operation, as long as it is on,” Aleksandr Bastrykin was quoted as saying. “If they, being Russian citizens, refuse to carry out their military duty, we have to make a decision to strip them of citizenship.”

Russian rights activists first started to report on the authorities’ attempts to send Central Asian labour migrants to fight in Ukraine last autumn. The drive includes special raids to round up migrants with Russian passports, after which they are immediately taken to military recruitment centres.

The Russian authorities also target female migrants, making them sign up to go to the occupied Ukrainian territories or to the front line to work as cooks and nurses, rights activists said.

Earlier this year President Putin signed a decree simplifying naturalisation of foreigners who sign up to fight in Ukraine.

Central Asian migrants have always faced official harassment in Russia, as well as suffering from daily xenophobia and racism. Since the start of Russia’s war on Ukraine, they have complained that the environment in Russia has become even more hostile.

Russian officials and media often portray migrants as backward and a source of crime.

Speaking at a military conference on Thursday, Bastrykin “spoke at length about the issue of crime among migrants”, according to the Committee’s Telegram channel.   

He said the number of grave and particularly grave crimes committed by foreigners in Russia in 2022 increased by 37 percent. He added that the situation with “ethnic crime” had shown “no sign of improvement” this year.

He described “the average migrant-criminal” as being “about 22-24 years of age, from a CIS country, with primary education, poor knowledge of the Russian language, Russian culture and history, and laws”, the report said.

Bastrykin also noted “the issue” of “the emergence of ethnic enclaves, which represent a threat to the local population”.

The conference was called “Public unity and strengthening of inter-ethnic relations is a foundation of the country’s security at the present time”.

Also on Thursday, Bastrykin ordered a report on the ongoing investigation about a café in Moscow “which is permanently crowded with migrants and is a source of public disorder”, the Committee’s Telegram channel said.

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