Putin's decree on Ukrainians in Russia, occupied territories a forced Russification tool – UK intel

The UK Ministry of Defense said this in an intelligence update on Ukraine, published on X (formerly Twitter), Ukrinform reports.

"Putin's decree is almost certainly intended to force the departure from Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory of Ukrainian nationals who refuse to accept Russian passports and citizenship. Putin and the Russian senior leadership continue to prosecute a Russification policy in illegally occupied Ukrainian territory, as part of longstanding efforts to extirpate Ukrainian culture, identity and statehood," the update states.

UK intelligence believes that Russia erroneously and illegally defines both occupied and unoccupied Ukrainian territory in the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, as well as Crimea, as being part of the Russian Federation.

"This is in direct contradiction with Russia's own stated recognition of Ukraine's independence and sovereignty following the collapse of the Soviet Union, as well as broader international recognition of Ukraine," the report said.

Putin earlier signed a decree requiring Ukrainian citizens who "lack legal grounds" to stay in Russia to either leave by September 10 or "regularize their legal status."

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry condemned Putin's decree as null and void, calling it a continuation of Russia's genocidal policy against the Ukrainian people.