Citizens of Tajikistan are being stripped of Russian citizenship

The authorities of Russia are stripping citizenship from natives of Tajikistan for failing to register for military service.

Entrepreneur Farrukhjon Rozikov in Moscow spent three years trying to obtain Russian citizenship and only received his Russian passport a month ago. Within two weeks of receiving the passport, he was required to report to the military enlistment office for registration. Farrukhjon did not do this. As a result, he was stripped of his Russian citizenship.

A similar case occurred with native of Tajikistan Badriiddin Khudoydodov in Moscow. He reported that he was unable to register for military service due to illness; however, Russian media reports that he could not provide the authorities with the necessary documents to confirm his illness. Consequently, he was also stripped of citizenship.

In the Far East, decisions were also made to strip three natives of Tajikistan of their Russian citizenship for failing to register for initial military service. The Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Khabarovsk Krai reported that they received Russian citizenship in August 2023 but did not register for military service as required by law.

The military enlistment office in Khabarovsk Krai reported that during inspections, more than 700 people were registered for military service, 17 of whom have already been sent to serve in the army during the autumn draft.

Earlier in August of this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law making registration for military service a mandatory condition for obtaining Russian citizenship.

In the event of refusal or failure to meet this condition, naturalized citizens of Russia may be stripped of their citizenship.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia claims that such measures are aimed at ensuring equality of all citizens before the law, rather than at the mass stripping of citizenship from natives of other countries.

However, migrants, especially Tajik migrants, assert that in most cases, mass raids and stripping of Russian citizenship primarily target natives of Tajikistan. According to them, the Russian authorities intend to send non-Russians to fight in the war in Ukraine first.