The U.S. Embassy advised those dual citizens who are in the country “to shelter in place and obey local orders.” Those who fall inside the category and are not currently in Ukraine have been advised to stay away if they do not wish to stay indefinitely.
Kyiv does not recognize dual citizenship, with Ukrainian passport holders normally being obliged to drop other citizenships, though enforcement of this rule is limited.
“It is likely just codification of existing policy,” a Ukrainian-U.S. citizen, granted anonymity due to risks attached to his citizenship status, told POLITICO.
“There were rumors almost immediately after the full-scale invasion began, that dual citizens were being turned back from the border, so I think they’ve been doing this for a while,” he said. “I suspect I would have never been allowed to leave even before this was officially announced.”
Andriy Demchenko, spokesman of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, explained that border guards indeed treated Ukrainians with dual citizenship as Ukrainians who all must protect the country from the Russian invasion.
“For example, at the border, we have repeatedly discovered male citizens of Ukraine who, at passport control, pretended to be foreigners,” Demchenko told POLITICO.
At the same time, Ukrainian men of conscription age, who had sufficient evidence to prove permanent residence abroad, were previously allowed to travel outside of Ukraine, Demchenko added.
“However, with the change in legislation, this opportunity for them is now limited too,” Demchenko said.
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