Logo of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Source: Creative Commons

Written by: Marthad Umucyaba

The Russian Embassy in Canada has disclosed new information to The Canada Files about policy meant to support Ukrainians who want to avoid fighting for the Nazi Ukrainian government. This comes as the prospect of Ukraine being fully annexed becomes more likely, since gains for the Russian Army increase by the day.

The government of Ukraine has, in response, ordered all of their consulates to deny services to Ukrainian service age males as a coercion tactic to repatriate them back to the country for mobilisation to the front line. They have also requested and insisted on allied NATO nations to cooperate in aiding forced repatriation of Ukrainians to the front line to fight Russia. Some NATO nations have cooperated, including Poland.

According to the Russian Embassy in Canada, Ukrainians wishing to avoid combat can head straight to Russia and apply for citizenship. There are also services available not just to Ukrainians, but to all foreign nationals in general to facilitate the move to Russia. A recent Human Rights report was also released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation exposing the hypocrisy on “human rights” on the part of NATO states, including Canada in particular.

Current Policy towards Ukrainian Refugees

Via email, The Russian Embassy in Canada explained that since a July 2022 decree, #440, Ukrainians are eligible to apply for Russian citizenship in Russia proper. The process of applying for Russian citizenship for Ukrainians is not available at the consulates or the embassies. However, there are other services available that can be accessed by any foreign national, regardless of nationality, to help facilitate a move to Russia.

Consular Services Available

Consular services are available for verification of documents, regular visa services, and police checks. There are also specific services to help facilitate the move to Russia if due to the policy of the country the embassy is in, there is a genuine fear of forced repatriation to Ukraine. For example, Ukrainians who were born in the Donbass, Kherson, Crimea, or Zaporozhye, and reside abroad, can now verify their documents through the Russian embassy. They’ll be able to use those documents to apply for Russian citizenship when they make the move back to Russia.

For Ukrainians seeking to avoid the conflict with Russia, and are concerned about being forcefully repatriated, the embassy’s recommendation is to contact the nearest Russian consulate or embassy to see what services are available, depending on that person’s particular situation.

Russian citizenship in contrast to deteriorating “human rights” in the West

Russia released a report on the human rights situation in “certain countries”, namely, the NATO states and their anti-Russian peripheries. Canada was of course included in the list, and just one example of the contrast between the Russian government and the Ukrainian government and its supporters was made clear with the human rights issues that the report emphasises. It also, in many ways, brings to light the root causes of the Russian Special Military Operation, NATO’s expansive nature, and NATO’s Nazi origins.

Russia cited, among many past and present white supremacist and Nazi-esque abuses of the Canadian government, the failure on the part of Canada to respect Indigenous language rights. The report paid particular attention to the fact that in the Northwest Territories, in Nunavut, and in the Yukon, Inuktitut, the lingua franca of the indigenous nations there, is only taught up until grade five, despite a guarantee of the right to be educated through secondary and through post-secondary in that language.

Russia describes itself as a multi-national nation. The regional languages of all of the nations that make up the federation are taught from primary school through post-secondary. In fact, one of the reasons that Russia decided to annex Crimea and recognise the Donetsk Peoples’ Republic and Luhansk Peoples’ Republic was legislation on the part of Ukraine that infringed on Russian language rights.

The reader should compare and contrast that to a nation like Canada, that poisoned (and continues to poison) the water supply of Indigenous nations and brutally abused and killed children for speaking their native language in residential schools, and decide for themselves which country actually believes in the “human rights” concept.

Make the Call

This article assumes that for the Ukrainian reading it, they’re residing in a NATO country and not a die-hard Banderite supportive of the current Ukrainian government. It’s safe assumption that all of the die-hard Banderites are already in Ukraine, or have already died fighting for Bandera, and that any country outside of the NATO periphery will not forcefully repatriate Ukrainians on their own initiative.

For those that came to the NATO states falling for the liberal democratic “Great Democracies” narrative, the “universal values” narrative, or even the “human rights record” narrative, and are now in a conundrum originating from that naivete, there is a way out. They can call the Russian embassy, or if the forced repatriation has already happened, to Volga at callsign 149.200.

Editor’s note: The Canada Files is the country's only news outlet focused on Canadian foreign policy. We've provided critical investigations & hard-hitting analysis on Canadian foreign policy since 2019, and need your support.

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Marthad Shingiro Umucyaba (formerly referred to as Christian Shingiro) is a Rwandan-born naturalized Canadian expat. He is known for his participation in Communist/anti-imperialist national and international politics and is the radio show host of The Socially Radical Guitarist.

He is also a freelance web developer in Hong Kong, China, striving to provide “Socially Radical Web Design at a socially reasonable price”.

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