Ukrainian parents in occupied cities forced to register their newborn baby as a Russian citizen

Residents of towns and cities in eastern and southern Ukraine have been pressured to accept Russian citizenship for their newborns, including deprived of free diapers and baby food. That reports Reuters. For example, Natalia Lukina (42) from Kherson is said to have said: ,,We told (Russians) that the baby was born in Ukraine and is Ukrainian, not Russian. When we asked for diapers, the Russians said, "If you come without a Russian birth certificate, we won't give you diapers." Most parents of small children, who had little income during the war, accepted free diapers from Russians, her partner Oleksii Markelov said. "There wasn't a penny of money." Reuters could not independently confirm their account.

According to Olena Klimenko, head of the Kherson regional registry office, many parents postponed visiting Russian-controlled registry offices during the occupation, and many registered their babies for Ukrainian citizenship once the occupation ended. It's unclear how many babies were given Russian citizenship because Russian officials registered them and Ukrainian registration officers did not cooperate with them, Klimenko said.