Advertisements offering Russian passports without requiring individuals to renounce their Lithuanian citizenship have appeared on Facebook. However, these ads may also be used as a recruitment tool for the Russian secret services, Lithuanian institutions have warned.
"Russia is seeking to identify certain individuals who may be sympathetic to or have some sentiments towards that country, to possibly exploit them in the future," said Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the state Crisis Management Centre.
According to the centre, the ads are published by a private Russian company, the Central Migration Agency, which runs a so-called repatriation programme approved by the Russian government.
Nerijus Maliukevičius, a lecturer at Vilnius University's Institute of International Relations and Political Science, suggested that such methods could also have economic motives.
"These are paid services. The big question is to what extent they are legitimate and to what extent a person can fall into a purely economic trap of deception," he said.
In a written comment, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said it was illegal for the country’s nationals to hold multiple passports, without first securing an exemption.
The decision to take a Russian passport would also "expose men to the possibility of being drafted to participate in Russian aggression in Ukraine", the ministry said.
The Crisis Management Centre has urged citizens not to provide any information or engage with those offering Russian passports and to report any suspicious activities to the authorities.
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