Fraudsters in Romania aided Russians in obtaining citizenship to avoid sanctions. The criminal group has been operating since the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Russians received Romanian passports to have 'European citizenship' and evade sanctions.
Since the start of the conflict, Ukrainian troops have noticed an increase in the population of the city of Vârful Câmpului due to the illegal acquisition of Romanian passports by citizens of Russia, Moldova, and Ukraine. This became possible due to bribes to officials of the civil registry offices and the involvement of local residents in the scheme.
More than 18 thousand individuals from the former USSR possess fictitious registrations and real Romanian passports. The provision of 'European citizenship' cost between 4 to 7 thousand euros. Fraudsters even used the names of deceased Ukrainian soldiers to obtain passports.
In 2022, the criminal group that helped obtain citizenship through false documents was uncovered in Romania. This led to the loss of citizenship for blogger Arthur Babich and media founder Roman Anin from 'Vazhnye Istorii.'