Zelensky proposes Ukrainian citizenship for foreign fighters

Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, attends a joint press conference with Swiss Federal President Viola Amherd after a meeting in Kehrsatz near Bern, Switzerland, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. Zelensky will attend the World Economic Forum in Davos starting Tuesday. AP FILE PHOTO

KYIV — President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday announced draft legislation that could pave the way for foreigners fighting against Russia in his country to receive Ukrainian citizenship.

Thousands of foreigners rushed at the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to help fend off Moscow’s forces trying to wrest control of the country and topple Ukraine’s leadership.

“Foreign volunteers who took up arms to defend Ukraine, all those who fight for Ukraine’s freedom as if it were their homeland. And Ukraine will become such for them,” Zelensky said in a post on social media.

READ: For foreign fighters, Ukraine offers purpose, camaraderie and a cause

He was announcing new proposed legislation that would formally allow Ukrainians to gain dual citizenship, with the exception of Russia.

Zelensky also said he had signed a decree titled “On the Territories of the Russian Federation Historically Inhabited by Ukrainians,” without providing details.

He said the aim of the document was to push forward “the restoration of truth about the historical past for the sake of Ukraine’s future.”

Apart from taking in a wide array of Western supplied weapons, Kyiv has also seen thousands of citizens from a slew of countries fighting alongside its forces on the front.

Among them, units comprised of Belarusians and Russians have also joined the fight. Both states are considered to be “aggressor countries” by Kyiv, since Russian forces also attacked Ukraine from Belarusian territory.