Where Did All These Passports Come From? Russia’s Manipulation of Citizenship as Hybrid Warfare in Ukraine

Russia has used mass passport distribution as a hybrid warfare tactic in Ukraine, granting citizenship to residents of occupied territories like Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk to justify its invasion and consolidate control. The Russian interior minister claimed 3.5 million people in these regions received Russian passports by 2025, a strategy rooted in post-Soviet policies to expand influence through 'passportization'.