Russia uses passportization as tool of pressure in Georgia's occupied regions – Intelligence
Russia is using passportization as an instrument of political pressure in Georgia's temporarily occupied regions.
According to Ukrinform, the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine stated this on its website.
"Moscow uses passportization as a flexible tool of political pressure on the temporarily occupied regions of Georgia, demonstrating that administrative preferences directly depend on the obedience of local elites," the agency said.
On February 14, 2026, in Tskhinvali (South Ossetia), a Russian Interior Ministry passport issuance center was opened. During the ceremony, the local "prime minister" D. Tadtaev and Russian Ambassador M. Kulakhmetov emphasized "alliance relations" and shared history – rhetoric that traditionally accompanies the expansion of Russian control over the region.
"At the same time, policy toward Abkhazia has become noticeably tougher," the intelligence service stressed.
On February 6 this year in Sukhumi, Moscow suspended the operation of passport and driver's license issuance centers. Documents can now be processed only on Russian territory with a state fee of 4,000–6,000 rubles, creating additional financial and logistical barriers for residents.
The formal pretext was statements by certain Abkhaz deputies regarding the legality of Russian Interior Ministry staff operating there, although the local parliament had adopted no such decisions.
According to the intelligence service, the contrast appears particularly sharp given that about 190,000 residents of Abkhazia – out of a population of roughly 244,000 – hold Russian documents. Issuance centers had been operating since April 2025 under a dual citizenship agreement and had provided passports free of charge.
On February 13, the local "president" B. Gunba was forced to publicly ask the Kremlin to restore the procedure, acknowledging that its suspension undermines the legitimacy of already issued documents and payments.
"This alternate strengthening and curtailment of support for the two regions is consistent with the style of curatorship associated with Sergei Kirienko, first deputy head of the Russian presidential administration. The simultaneous opening of a passport office in Tskhinvali and blocking of a similar mechanism in Abkhazia signals the Kremlin's switching to an openly selective model of control, where the level of assistance is determined solely by the degree of political obedience of the local elites," the agency noted.
As Ukrinform reported, the UK Ministry of Defence, citing intelligence data, stated that a Russian law obliging Ukrainian children in temporarily occupied territories to obtain Russian passports in order to travel abroad is another step increasing pressure on Ukrainian citizens seeking to leave occupation.