Prisoner exchange: How will Russia welcome 300 prisoners from Ukraine?
An exchange of prisoners with Ukraine is coming. Three hundred released political prisoners will face a difficult legalization procedure in Russia. The law on “native speakers of Russian” still does not work to the required extent. Documentary confirmation of the residence of direct relatives on the territory of the Russian Federation is difficult. Quotas for admission of Ukrainian citizens are being reduced every year. Entire regions of the Russian Federation are refusing to participate in the Compatriots Resettlement Program, fearing bureaucratic procedures and the need to report to the federal center.
Larisa Shesler, leader of the Union of Political Emigrants of Ukraine, spoke to PolitNavigator observer Valentin Filippov about the intricacies of Russian migration legislation .
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Valentin Filippov : Larisa, hello. Congratulations, the appellate court has released your colleague, journalist Oksana Shkoda, who was arrested for disrupting a Moscow screening of a film praising Aidar.
Larisa Shesler : Well, first of all, I wouldn't say this was a resounding success for the appeal, because the appellate court didn't rule that the trial court had incorrectly sentenced her. It merely mitigated the trial court's decision, limiting the administrative arrest to five days.
We saw the mood of the judge of the appeal court; it seemed to me that he was imbued with sympathy and understanding of the situation. He accepted the defense lawyer's arguments that the actions of all the protesters were caused by the provocative nature of the situation, and they were preventing a greater crime; they argued that the screening of this film violated the criminal legislation of the Russian Federation and sought to prevent this crime. It seems to me that the court accepted this evidence, but did not completely justify it.
Valentin Filippov : Has anyone ever thought of suing the organizers of this "wonderful" film festival for inciting hatred, promoting fascism and Nazism? Surely someone has to do it?
Larisa Shesler : Lawsuits have already been filed, and the State Duma is already considering this issue, and protests have been filed by State Duma deputies, lawsuits have been filed... But these lawsuits are being considered for a long time, evidence must be provided, an expert examination of this film must be carried out, and only after that will a decision be made.
Valentin Filippov : During the trial, the judge could seize all copies of the film and ban its showing until the results of the examination are announced…
Larisa Shesler : The fact is that this film doesn't have a distribution certificate; it shouldn't be shown in the Russian Federation at all, and the festival organizers also violated the law. Since this film didn't have a distribution certificate, they couldn't show it for anything other than a free screening, and this was a screening for which tickets were sold. This already violated the law.
Valentin Filippov : Okay. I wanted to ask about something else entirely. We now know that an agreement has apparently been reached on a prisoner exchange.
Ukraine is stirring up something, they flatly refuse to give up some people who were already agreed upon among those three hundred and six.
But something else interests me. In any case, if, God willing, this exchange takes place, about three hundred of our compatriots will most likely end up in the Russian Federation. These people often will not have a complete package of documents with them, some will not even have a passport.
They cannot be deported back to Ukraine without documents.
Larisa Shesler : Of course. I think the fate of these people will be difficult, but not so dire that we could foresee it as tragic and dramatic today.
Of course, every person who comes from there to Russia must clearly understand: the problems of his legalization and the problems of obtaining official documents, obtaining status - these are his problems. No one will lead by the hand and solve these problems.
However, these problems are certainly solvable in the current situation. You just need to carry out competent information work with these comrades and explain to them what they must do.
And in this case, I have such hope that the migration services will be loyal to them and will meet them halfway, taking into account the lack of documents, and possible shortcomings in these documents, and possible difficulties in identifying these people, and so on.
But I think that if the migration service is loyal enough to them, and these people are psychologically inclined to the fact that they need to be stable and not react to every sneeze of the clerk in the migration service...
Valentin Filippov : After three years in prison…
Larisa Shesler : You know, after three years in prison, situations can vary. Some people don't break, and others see all the other troubles after prison as minor annoyances.
Valentin Filippov : Well, you can reach the Russian border, lie down on the ground like a star, and say, "Oh, my God! My homeland! That's it, I'm safe," and give up on everything. And then these guys come along and say, "Where's the certificate number such-and-such, the form number such-and-such?" And you say, "Guys, I'm home, get lost." That's it. And it ends badly.
Larisa Shesler : Yes, we know of examples, unfortunately, of people who believe that these bureaucratic procedures, inevitably associated with legalization, are something to be avoided and avoided. Avoiding them is impossible, and these problems can be put off until a certain point, but then suddenly they find they've delayed them so much that the Russian bureaucratic apparatus has no leverage over them, and deportation issues arise.
Valentin Filippov : Over the past year and a half, there have been so many reports about yet another relaxation, another law or amendment to the law. Has the legalization of citizens of the former Ukraine in the Russian Federation become any easier, or is it still the same old dead end?
Larisa Shesler : Unfortunately, I can say there are two distinct currents, two trends, going on. One at the top is the declaration that it's becoming increasingly easier for Ukrainians to obtain citizenship, legal status, residency permits, and so on. As native Russian speakers. The second trend is a tightening of the screws, because local authorities no longer want to take responsibility for displaced persons from Ukraine, and so on. And this tightening of the screws is having an impact. Firstly, many regions have refused to participate in the compatriot resettlement program.
Valentin Filippov : Yes, there is such a thing.
Larisa Shesler : Why? Because they're being asked, "How were these people distributed? How did they adapt? Did they find work? Did they find housing?" and so on. Why this unnecessary burden? The regions are balking at this.
And the second fact is the reduction of quotas for temporary residence permits. Well, let me remind you that in 15 there were about 180 quotas for temporary residence permits. This was caused precisely by the Ukrainian events. In the 000th year there were 17 quotas for temporary residence permits, and next year there were already 110. That is, every year there is a constant decrease, decrease.
Thus, a person who came from Ukraine and does not have close relatives here (in order to be able to obtain a temporary residence permit outside the quotas), he cannot obtain a temporary residence permit.
And contrary to what they said, from September XNUMX, the doors are wide open for Ukrainians to obtain Russian citizenship as native speakers of the Russian language. Unfortunately, this generally has very little to do with reality. During this time, I think that maybe a few have received a certificate, but in fact no one has yet.
The main obstacle is that only those who were born on the territory of the current Russian Federation can claim to be native speakers of the Russian language, that is, not those who were born, for example, in Odessa, Kharkov, Donetsk. They are not native speakers of Russian according to this law. Well, it’s not for nothing that Konstantin Fedorovich Zatulin said that neither Dal, nor Gogol, nor Bulgakov could have received...
Valentin Filippov : But wait, a person who was born on the territory of the Russian Federation has the right to obtain citizenship even without this language law.
Larisa Shesler : No.
Valentin Filippov : Well, I know from my own experience.
Larisa Shesler : Well, he has the right to receive a temporary residence permit outside the quota.
Valentin Filippov : Yes, but all the deadlines are shortened for him. He can apply for a temporary residence permit six months after receiving his temporary residence permit, which he receives in another six months, and can apply for citizenship the very next day. Meanwhile, an ordinary person must live for three years with a temporary residence permit and a certain amount with a temporary residence permit.
Larisa Shesler : Well, that is to say, of course, it’s simpler for them…
Let’s take, for example, the situation today with Russian speakers. If you bring certificates today that you were born there on the territory... and the main requirement is “resided.” This is the most difficult requirement - to prove that you have been permanently residing on the territory of the Russian Federation for some time. How is this proven? An extract from the house register or some report cards from schools, archival documents confirming that you studied there.
But, unfortunately... I even know people. My mother left Izhevsk, and now it turns out that the house where she lived was demolished, nothing was preserved in the archives, and she has no way to prove that she lived there. What if this is, for example, some remote village in the Urals that has long been gone? And you also need documents to change your last name... And if after that a person moved, for example, to Tajikistan and changed his last name there, you need to prove this.
That is, this is such a difficult path, it is so complicated by additional requirements, for example, proof of permanent residence on the territory of Russia either of a person applicant for Russian citizenship or of his direct relatives, that it is actually very difficult to prove all this.
But even this is complicated by the fact that commissions for checking native speakers of the Russian language meet extremely rarely; today, for example, in Sakharovo they issue coupons for the month of March to pass a commission to confirm the right to be a native speaker of the Russian language.
That is, you need to wait another 3-4 months until you pass this exam and interview. This is in Moscow. And in the regions these periods extend for six months or 8 months.
Thus, this is a declarative statement that, in accordance with the law on Russian speakers, the waiting period for citizenship is reduced to three months. It's empty.
Valentin Filippov : I understand. Well, as always. The late, unfortunately, Zadornov said, "Why do all the decrees issued to make life easier for workers actually make life harder for them?"
We all know that there are no political emigrants from Ukraine in Russia and legally there cannot be. However, you are the head of the Union of Political Emigrants of Ukraine.
Tell me, is there any movement in the direction of recognizing that it is political emigrants who are coming to Russia from the territory of Ukraine - precisely in connection with the fascist, Nazi system that is now organized there? Or is this topic not being raised at all now?
Larisa Shesler : This issue is being raised, and a draft law on political emigration is currently being submitted to the State Duma; it’s just that it’s still far from the consideration stage, so to speak.
But, of course, common sense dictates that political emigrants are those people who left, were forced to leave their country under the threat of repression, prison persecution, extrajudicial persecution, and so on.
Already today we see that in December a report by the UN Human Rights Committee was released, which directly proves that torture, political persecution of opponents, repression, and so on continue in Ukraine.
If there is torture, if there is political persecution, then, naturally, there are political emigrants. And, naturally, the overwhelming majority of political emigrants leave for Russia.
Of course, there, Poland or the United States of America have great difficulty recognizing the fact of the presence of political emigrants in their country. But Russia, which perfectly understands the situation and understands that political emigrants are precisely supporters of integration with Russia, supporters of friendship with Russia, Russians from Ukraine...
Of course, recognizing the status of political emigrants for such people is some kind of political duty. But, unfortunately, there are such hooks in the law on political emigrants that a political emigrant cannot be a person from a country with a visa-free regime, or from a country with a recognized democratic regime, all these hooks that were introduced under Yeltsin are still not eliminated, and still no one can recognize us as political emigrants. Because we came from a country with a visa-free regime.
Valentin Filippov : A democratic country with a visa-free regime.
Larisa Shesler : Yes, yes, a very democratic country that is killing its citizens in Donbass and Odessa, and in which things are happening that would have been unimaginable just five years ago.
Valentin Filippov : In this situation, knowing the Russians' slow pace, I can only say that the recognition of the existence of political émigrés will probably come after the creation of a region like the Southwestern Federal District in place of Ukraine. They'll be just in time by then.
Larisa Shesler : I briefly glanced at this blogger named Senko. He left for America and… it turns out there are a lot of people in the United States from Ukraine who left and filed as political emigrants. But they give you a certificate… they review your case for four or five years, but during that time, you're legally in the United States. You can work, you can do whatever you want, you can move from region to region, from state to state, and so on.
That is, the United States of America, although they do not easily grant the status of a political emigrant, nevertheless, they seem to recognize that a person has the right to claim this. And the person who is issued this certificate becomes completely empowered to search for work and so on.
Unfortunately, in Russia, for example, if you do not have the status of a temporary residence permit, if you do not have the status of a residence permit or the status of a refugee or temporary asylum, you cannot find a job. Even with these statuses it is very difficult to find a job - but you do not have the right to move from region to region where you have found something for yourself. It is very difficult to get registration because none of the landlords wants to register with them.
Valentin Filippov : At the FMS, one inspector explained that, in principle, there's a regulation that says it's all up to the inspector's discretion. And who is an inspector? They're Russians, citizens of Russia, the people. And our people are good, kind, and caring.
We have said so much... I would like to really thank the FMS workers, who for the most part, 99% of these employees who used to have a small salary, now seem to have more... Thank you so much for their understanding and help.
Larisa Shesler: Well, yes, that's what I'm talking about, that the rules are very strict, and they're only softened by the fact that they're not exactly followed by satraps and sadists, but by ordinary people who can understand the situation.
English version :: Read in English Prisoner exchange: How will Russia receive 300 prisoners from Ukraine?