Nevzorov became a citizen of Ukraine

Russian journalist Alexander Nevzorov, who was put on the wanted list in the Russian Federation, received Ukrainian citizenship. His wife also became a citizen of Ukraine.

Commenting on the decision of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the journalist said, quoting UP:

“About Ukrainian citizenship. Without further ado… I take the side of the victim. And I am very grateful to those exhausted, desperate, bloodied people of Ukraine who allowed me to take my place among them.”

On Friday, June 3, information appeared on the network, on Russian telegram channels, about the desire of Nevzorov (recognized as a foreign agent in the Russian Federation) and his wife Lydia to obtain citizenship of Ukraine. A little later, Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, said that Volodymyr Zelensky had signed a decree granting Ukrainian citizenship to Nevzorov and his wife. He noted that President Volodymyr Zelensky granted him citizenship “for outstanding services” to the country, writes RBC.

On March 22, the Investigative Committee of Russia opened criminal proceedings against Alexander Nevzorov. The reason was his account of events with maternity hospital in Mariupol. According to the investigation, on March 9, on Instagram (banned in the Russian Federation; owned by the Meta corporation, which is recognized as extremist in the Russian Federation) and on March 19 on YouTube, the journalist published deliberately false information about the deliberate shelling of a maternity hospital in Mariupol by the Russian Armed Forces, writes TASS. The publications were accompanied, the department notes, with unreliable photographs of civilians who suffered from the shelling. The sources of distribution of these images are the Ukrainian media. The Investigative Committee also recalled that the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation officially announced the falsity of this information.

On May 6, the journalist was arrested in absentia by the Moscow Basmanny Court in a criminal case on discrediting the Russian army. He faces up to 10 years in prison. Before that, the journalist’s wife said that he had left Russia for Israel.

Nevzorov left Russia and was put on the wanted list. The journalist published a post on his Telegram blog, writes MK.RUin which he expressed his point of view on the current situation: “Everyone makes his own choice.”

The reaction of Ukrainians in the networks was mixed. Many were outraged that a well-known journalist was credited only with “disapproval of the war in Ukraine”, which, in their opinion, should be a normal reaction of adequate Russian citizens. In addition, I was outraged by the speed with which the journalist was issued a Ukrainian passport, while many have been waiting for this for several years.

People’s deputy from the Servant of the People Dmitry Gurin said that now he sympathizes with Alexander Nevzorov, although “his statements of 1991 about Lithuania, as well as the film he made about the events in Vilnius, are not sympathetic.” The People’s Deputy believes that the discussion that flared up in society, after granting citizenship to a Russian journalist, demonstrates the need solve the problem of with the adoption of Ukrainian citizenship of Russians and Belarusians:

“Ukraine needs to solve the problem of admitting citizens of Russia and Belarus to Ukrainian citizenship, for whom these countries have for years created barriers that blocked the submission of documents for Ukrainian citizenship. First of all, this concerns those who are at war today, as well as family members of Ukrainian citizens and those who has lived in Ukraine for many years, knows its language and culture, has contributed to the economy and state building, recognizes the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the inviolability of its borders.The time has come to decide who is ours for us and who is a stranger. extend documents for stay in Ukraine.

Viktor Andrusiv, adviser to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, responded to critics who condemned the decision to grant Ukrainian citizenship to opposition Russian TV presenter Alexander Nevzorov on his Telegram channel:

“From the beginning of the war, Nevzorov took a clear, consistent position in support of Ukraine. But his peculiarity is that he is a large channel for the Russian audience. And since February 24, this channel has constantly worked in our interests, destroying Russian propaganda. Regarding the “good” and “bad” Russians, I very simply solved this problem for myself: “Good” Russians do not live in Russia.

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