00:57, 18 July 2025

Putin Allows Issuance of Russian Passports in Abkhazia and South Ossetia

Residents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia with Russian citizenship will be able to apply for Russian passports in the republics within the next three years.

As "Caucasian Knot" wrote, in October 2022, the Council of Europe agreed on a decision not to recognize Russian passports issued in Donbass, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia as valid documents. In August 2023, the Swiss Federal Council refused to recognize such passports.

Georgia considers Abkhazia and South Ossetia to be territories occupied by Russia after Russia intervened in the armed conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia on August 8, 2008, and then recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report on the 2008 Five-Day War, which also contains details of the armed conflict.

Vladimir Putin signed a decree allowing the issuance of internal Russian passports on the territory of Abkhazia and South Ossetia on July 17. The document was published on the official Internet portal of legal information.

According to the decree, citizens of Abkhazia and South Ossetia who have also acquired Russian citizenship but live in the republics "have the right to apply for the issuance, including on the territory of the Republic of Abkhazia or the Republic of South Ossetia, of a passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation." This provision also applies to the replacement of the passport.

The decree does not apply to those citizens of Abkhazia and South Ossetia who received citizenship after August 26, 2008, Interfax notes. The document comes into force on the day of its official publication and is valid until August 1, 2028 inclusive.

Most residents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia acquired Russian passports before 2008. According to the Warsaw Institute, an analytical and research center, by 2008, up to 85% of the population of Abkhazia and more than 90% of the population of South Ossetia held Russian passports.

"Caucasian Knot" also wrote that on April 1, Putin issued a decree simplifying the issuance of Russian driver's licenses to citizens of Abkhazia who have Russian citizenship or a residence permit in Russia. Some drivers complained that they spent money on paperwork without knowing about the upcoming innovation.

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Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/413123