A large-scale fraud network has enabled thousands of Russian citizens to acquire Romanian citizenship by descent through falsified documents since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, granting them access to the EU, according to an investigative report by Le Monde.
Romanian authorities estimate that more than 18,700 citizens from former Soviet republics have registered fictitious residences in Romania, with hundreds already receiving Romanian passports.
The scheme involves corrupt civil registry officials and criminal networks spanning multiple countries.
Forged Genealogies and Counterfeit Certificates
The schemes involve fake claims that an applicant’s ancestors were born in cities such as Chernivtsi in Ukraine, or Chișinău in Moldova, when those locations were part of Romanian territory.
Authorities in those countries have certified documents attesting to these claims, leading Romania’s National Authority for Citizenship to issue genuine citizenship certificates based on these fabricated genealogies in numerous cases.
In 2024, Romanian authorities introduced new requirements, including mandatory Romanian-language testing for applicants, in response to the growing number of suspected fraudulent applications.
The criminal networks adapted by producing counterfeit citizenship certificates directly, bypassing the standard two-year legal process.
Prices for such certificates reportedly reached tens of thousands of euros, with one client paying €75,000 to an intermediary, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors stated that criminals exploited human, legislative, and organizational loopholes in the administrative system.
They identified advertisements on social media targeting Russian speakers that offer Romanian passports for approximately €4,000 to €7,000, occasionally featuring discounts.
It Takes a Village
The fraud emerged through unusual demographic patterns in Vârfu Câmpului, a small commune in northern Romania near the Ukrainian border.
Official records showed the population more than doubled from 3,420 residents in 2011 to over 7,000 in 2021.
By 2024, nearly 10,000 people appeared on electoral rolls, yet some polling stations recorded just 2% voter turnout during municipal elections in June.
In November 2024, dozens of police search-and-seizure operations revealed the discrepancy.
As per Le Monde, investigators found that approximately 10,000 citizens from Moldova, Ukraine, and Russia had obtained Romanian identity documents by establishing fictitious residences, sometimes without the knowledge or consent of property owners.
Civil registry officials from two local offices had allegedly issued forged documents for years in exchange for bribes, working with local accomplices.
Romania’s General Prosecutor’s Office identified a criminal group of seven Ukrainian nationals, all residing in Romania, who allegedly submitted more than 900 fraudulent naturalization applications in 2025 alone, primarily for Russian citizens.
The group reportedly collaborated with local notaries, lawyers, and translators to process the applications.
Le Monde reported, citing a police source and a judicial source, that some Russian applicants used identities of Ukrainian soldiers killed in combat to support their citizenship claims.
Exploiting Romania’s CBD Framework
The fraud exploits a legitimate citizenship-by-descent (CBD) program that Romania has operated since 1991, which grants citizenship to people who lived in territories that belonged to the Kingdom of Romania between 1918 and 1940, including present-day Moldova and portions of Ukraine’s Odesa and Chernivtsi oblasts.
The program has allowed approximately one million Moldovans and thousands of Ukrainians to obtain Romanian passports over the past three decades.
Applications from Russian citizens increased substantially following Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Romania's citizenship authority reported 6,658 applications from Russian citizens in 2023 and 4,574 in 2024, compared with 5,262 total applications between 2012 and February 2022.
Applications from Belarusian citizens similarly increased from 95 in 2020 to 605 in 2024.
Romania's EU Membership and Broader Context
Romania joined the European Union on January 1, 2007, alongside Bulgaria, as part of the bloc's fifth enlargement.
As one of 27 member states, Romania fully participates in the EU institutions, though it continues to use its national currency, the leu, while working toward eventual adoption of the euro.
As such, Romanian citizenship provides holders the right to live, work, and travel freely throughout the European Union.
Officials said the investigation is ongoing and that they will continue to identify and revoke all fraudulent citizenship grants while implementing stronger verification procedures for the citizenship-by-descent program.
