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Since 2022, Serbian authorities have granted citizenship to 204 Russian nationals “in the interest of the Republic” — without requiring residency in the country or renunciation of their previous citizenship. Among the recipients are individuals close to Republic of Chechnya head Ramzan Kadyrov, executives in Russia’s sprawling state defense conglomerate Rostec, and figures involved in construction projects on occupied Ukrainian territories.
The list was compiled via a joint investigation by the independent outlet Important Stories (IStories) in collaboration with the Serbian investigative network KRIK. According to the report, since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the following Russians have become Serbian citizens:
▪️ Sumaid Khalidov — a member of the executive committee of the Russian Boxing Federation and organizer of tournaments in honor of Akhmat Kadyrov (Ramzan Kadyrov’s father) in Grozny. Also granted passports were several of his boxing colleagues: Alexei Galeev, trainer of IBA president Umar Kremlev; Viktor Shendrik, former FSB officer and head of security at Russian Railways (who, according to IStories, sponsored the neo-Nazi football fan group-turned-mercenary unit Espanola, which fights against Ukraine); Kremlev's deputy Abdulmutalim Abakarov; and Abakarov’s three children.
▪️ Nikolai Uraev — former director of the Kazan-based defense plant Elecon, which manufactures components for the Bulava and Topol-M missiles. Uraev now heads the Krasnogorsk Auto-Van Plant, which produces military trucks and prisoner transport vehicles. Passports were also granted to his wife Anastasia Kolesova (herself the daughter of a former head of Rostec subsidiary Concern Radio-Electronic Technologies, better known as “KRET,” and a senior executive at Tatsotsbank), as well as to her mother Albina and to relative Nadezhda Uraeva. All three are connected to weapons manufacturing.
▪️ Ekaterina Blokhina — an executive at both KRET and Elecon, and a board member of the Kopir plant, which produces connectors for military equipment. Her mother previously owned a firm selling optical sights. Blokhina also runs an investment company in Russian-occupied Crimea controlled by Rostec-related entities.
▪️ Roman Karusev — an employee at the Shimko Radioelectronics Plant in the city of Kazan, which produces “friend or foe” identification systems for Russian military aircraft.
▪️ Olga Reiman — wife of former Communications Minister Leonid Reiman, who is involved in maintenance of aircraft used by the Russian National Guard and cosmonauts.
▪️ Svetlana Kiyko — wife of General Mikhail Kiyko, who formerly led the “Mechanika” machine-tool holding company within Rostec.
▪️ Andrey Shamshurin — vice president of Akvarius (“Aquarius”), a manufacturer of computers and encryption equipment for the Russian army and Federal Security Service (FSB). The company is under U.S. sanctions.
▪️ Alexei Lyamin — head of the Russian trading arm of truck manufacturer BELAZ, associated with the supply of tires for the Russian military via the Belarusian company Belshina.
▪️ Ivan Sibirev — former head of Stroytransneftegaz, currently operating in Russian-occupied Mariupol and Siverskodonetsk through the company R-Stroy, which is on the EU sanctions list.
▪️ Svetlana Perevalova — wife of the owner of VAD («ВАД»), a company that has built roads and bridges in annexed Crimea.
Aside from those mentioned above, Serbian passports were also granted to senior executives and employees of Russia's largest IT company Yandex, other IT entrepreneurs, to FixPrice founder Sergey Lomakin (who was recently stripped of his Cypriot citizenship), and to various tech specialists and athletes — such as MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko, who said he could move to Serbia in the event of a “force majeure” situation.
The passports were granted under Article 19 of Serbia’s Citizenship Law, which permits naturalization “for special merits” without fulfilling the usual legal requirements. This practice has previously drawn criticism from the European Commission, which in 2022 warned it could suspend Serbia’s visa-free regime with the EU if the country relaxed its passport rules for Russian nationals. Despite these concerns, expedited citizenship continues to be granted — including to individuals under international sanctions and linked to Russia’s ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine.