Natives of the CIS countries, in particular Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, who have received Russian citizenship, are not allowed to leave Russia. Radio Liberty reported, citing several migrants from the Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Tajikistan, who tried to return to their historical homeland, but they were not allowed to cross the border.
According to them, the Russian border guards explained that the law does not allow those included in the mobilization list to travel abroad until February 12.
There are reports that migrants with Russian citizenship receive military summons. They are summoned for a conversation to the military registration and enlistment offices, where they are explained that desertion from the armed forces is severely punished.
According to relatives of migrants, holders of Russian passports are stopped at airports, while natives of the Central Asian republics without Russian citizenship can freely return home.
Workers with Russian passports were warned in Bishkek that they would not be able to help them under the conditions of the announced mobilization. Russia does not have an agreement on dual citizenship with Kyrgyzstan — it does not recognize the original citizenship of Kyrgyzstan of naturalized citizens.
The head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Alexander Bastrykin said in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta on January 14 that «in the context of a special military operation in Ukraine, the state encourages foreign citizens to go into military service under a contract, providing the opportunity to obtain Russian citizenship in a simplified manner.»
The head of the Investigative Committee added: statistics show that foreigners are massively receiving Russian citizenship, bypassing military service. Over the past five years, it was obtained by more than a million people who arrived from the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus, including 550,000 former residents of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
