On the morning of December 21, the information that, according to data from the National Agency on Corruption Prevention declarations that cover 2021–2022 years, Rustem Umierov’s children have US citizenship started spreading online. 

Let’s walk you through our fact-checking process for this one. 

What happened?

Our Perevirka bot received requests to research if Rustem Umierov’s (Ukrainian Minister of Defence) children have United States citizenship. 

The information that Rustem Umierov’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention declarations for 2021 and 2022 show that his children have US citizenship started circulating in Ukrainian online space. 

One of the major sources of this information was the Telegram channel Lachen Pyshe. In their post (archive), they note that in 2019, Umierov’s two kids and wife were still Ukrainian citizens. 

Other Telegram channels, including anonymous ones, also wrote on the topic (in particular, Truha⚡️Ukraina (archive), Kharkiv 1654 | Misto-heroi 🇺🇦 (archive), and others, but they either debunked the information afterward or updated their post to include truthful information. 

Analysis

First, we looked through Rustem Umierov’s declaration for 2022. It says that his kids are Ukrainian citizens. As such, the Minister of Defence’s son, Said Ahmed Rustem Ohly, is a Ukrainian citizen. He received his ID in the USA, though. The USA is his country of residence. 

Other Rustem Umierov’s children also have Ukrainian citizenship. But they, too, received their IDs in the USA. 

Umierov’s wife, Meriam, is also a Ukrainian citizen who was registered in the USA. Besides that, Umierov’s declarations for 2019 and 2021 year also contain information that his kids are Ukrainian citizens residing in America. 

The Ministry of Defence explained that, in 2016, the Minister of Defence’s family went aboard because of the danger Rustem Umierov’s activities (that were aimed at de-occupation of temporarily occupied Crimea) posed. 

After Umierov’s family’s Ukrainian passports expired, they received new ones at the Ukrainian embassy in the USA. That’s why in declarations referenced by the media, the States are outlined as the place of receiving these documents. 

Conclusion: Fake 

Authors: Nazar Hlamazda, Aliesia Yashchenko 

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