Two more Lithuanians fighting on the Russian side in Ukraine have been stripped of their citizenship.
According to a decision by Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė, Lithuanian citizenship has been taken away from Vitalijus Kazakevičius, born in 1984, and Juozas Samuolis, born in 1978.
The men, both born in Lithuania, were deprived of their citizenship based on information from special services indicating that they may be serving in the Russian army.
“The Migration Department received information from the country’s special services that both individuals are possibly serving on the side of the forces of the Russian Federation and fighting against Ukraine,” Rokas Pukinskas, the migration body’s spokesman, told BNS on Wednesday.
The department was unable to reach these men through official channels but the Law on Citizenship allows revoking citizenship if a person serves in the military of another state without the government’s permission, according to the spokesman.
It was on this basis that the interior minister recognised that Kazakevičius and Samuolis have lost their Lithuanian citizenship.
Kęstutis Kvietkus, another Lithuanian serving in the Russian army and fighting in Ukraine, was stripped of his Lithuanian citizenship in mid-September.
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