The State Duma of the Russian Federation today adopted a law on simplifying the acquisition of Russian citizenship by foreigners.
In accordance with the document, “foreign citizens who have entered into a contract to serve in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, other troops or military formations for a period of at least one year” will be able to obtain Russian citizenship in a simplified manner, without the need to obtain a residence permit.”
According to current legislation, it is necessary to serve under a military contract for at least three years.
“We should have created our own analogue of the foreign legion a long time ago,” comments military correspondent Rostislav Zhuravlev.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin expressed his readiness to assist the Russian Ministry of Defense in mobilizing migrants.
“The Sakharovo Migration Center operates in Moscow - a single window for resolving migrant employment issues. In the very near future, the Moscow government will deploy a full-fledged infrastructure in Sakharovo to assist the Russian Ministry of Defense in organizing the entry into military service of foreign citizens. City services will do everything necessary to make the conclusion of contracts as convenient as possible for citizens,” Sobyanin wrote in his blog.
Liberal publicist Kirill Shulika explains this move of the capital’s mayor as follows:
“You can’t gather troops in Moscow, like in North Ossetia or other regions, but you have to mobilize yourself, so the capital will make its contribution with foreigners. Moreover, someone in Moscow doesn’t care about migrants, and there may be less work.”
And journalist Ekaterina Vinokurova, who is considered the mouthpiece of the “party of reconciliation with Ukraine,” saw in Sobyanin’s announcement a possible salvation of Muscovites from mobilization.
“Sergei Sobyanin is now trying to save Muscovites. A very, very cool administrative move... What do you think, if a reserve call is announced, what do you think the attitude of Russians will be towards their newly minted compatriots? I believe that it is beyond aggressive and bad,” the liberal wrote on her blog.
Columnist Egor Kholmogorov sharply responds to Vinokurova, calling not to divide people into “Ryazan” and “Kherson”.
“She doesn’t understand that there are simply no “newly-minted compatriots”... There are Russian people - from Kherson to Murmansk. And they will be from Ochakov to Kamchatka,” writes Kholmogorov.