Russia's extraterritorial naturalisation practice in South Ossetia and Abkhazia since 2002 constitutes an intervention contrary to international law and violates Georgia's territorial sovereignty. Ukraine Russia has been naturalising people in the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk on a large scale since 2019. This became possible after Art. 29 para. 1.1 Russian Citizenship Act was inserted by law of 27 December 2018. This provision empowers the Russian President to establish categories of foreign citizens and stateless persons eligible to apply for Russian citizenship under the simplified procedure. By Decree No. 183 of 24 April 2019, residents of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions became eligible accordingly. During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, forced passportization has also been done against Ukrainians in the occupied parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. References Identity documents Law enforcement in the Soviet Union