From next year, Ukrainians living in Russian-occupied areas in Ukraine must have Russian passports to receive free medication for diabetes, asthma, and other diseases, according to the human rights organization Eastern Human Rights Group.
To receive medical assistance, they must also register in a special register, reports The Kyiv Independent.
Russia is already applying the same practice in Starobilsk in the Luhansk region, where Ukrainian residents without Russian passports are denied care and medication.
According to the American research group Ukraine Conflict Observatory, Russia is systematically forcing residents in occupied Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia to accept Russian passports to avoid various types of punishment.
