ISW: Russia obliquely declares independence of Zaporizhzhia Oblast from Ukraine

Russian occupation officials in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Oblast have obliquely declared the region’s independence from Ukraine by falsely identifying Ukrainian citizens entering the occupied region as temporary asylum seekers, Report informs, citing the Institute for the Study of War, a US-based think tank.

Head of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast occupation administration Yevheny Balitsky signed an order that designates Ukrainian citizens arriving in occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast as temporary asylum seekers based on Russian law.

The order requires the registration of Ukrainian and Russian citizens based on their place of residence or place of arrival in the Russian-occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia Oblast and requires the distribution of temporary identification forms for all “stateless persons.”

Ukrainians and Russians may register if they present proof of their temporary asylum application. This decree has various implications under both international law and domestic Russian law.

International law states that a refugee is an individual from outside the country (or who is stateless) who is seeking “temporary asylum” in another country to escape persecution. Russian law defines a refugee as a person ”who is outside of his/her country of nationality or habitual residence.” Neither of these statuses properly apply to the majority of people crossing from unoccupied Ukraine into occupied Zaporizhzhia.