Putin claims "passportization" of occupied Ukrainian territories nearly complete

He made this statement during a meeting of the Russian Interior Ministry board, according to the Russian state agency TASS.  

According to Putin, the process of issuing Russian passports to residents of the occupied territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions has been nearly completed.  

"Last year, the passportization of residents in the liberated areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, as well as Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, was practically completed," Putin claimed.

What is Russian passportization?

The Russian policy of passportization—distributing Russian passports to residents of foreign territories—lies at the heart of the aggression campaign. This strategy, combined with the isolation of Ukrainian populations, leaves hundreds of thousands effectively stateless—unable to fully exercise their rights as Ukrainian citizens or benefit from Russian citizenship. 

It creates conditions for the mass acquisition of Russian citizenship in occupied areas, with the protection of these newly minted Russian citizens serving as a pretext for further aggression. 

Passportization has accompanied Russian interventions in South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Transnistria, Crimea, and Donbas.

• As of Wednesday, March 5, Ukrainian Defense Forces have pushed back Russian troops north of the village of Zapadne in the Kharkiv region.