Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry is introducing a “Certificate of Preservation of Ukrainian National Identity” for children living abroad. It rests on Order No. 469 of 16 September, amended on 24 September and in force since 6 October, according to Ukrinform, Mediasapiens and Ukranews. We have not seen the order itself, so what follows relies on those reports and on the ministry’s own comments.
Who can get the certificate?
The certificate is meant for children under 16 from Ukrainian communities abroad. One criterion appears to be enough: the child speaks Ukrainian, regularly attends a Ukrainian Saturday or Sunday school or cultural centre, goes to a summer camp for Ukrainians abroad, or takes part in concerts, contests, Ukrainian-studies olympiads or memorial projects. Parents cannot apply themselves. They ask the organisation or school their child attends whether it will submit a request. The decision rests with the head of the Ukrainian diplomatic mission, in Germany the ambassador or a consul general.
Deputy Foreign Minister Mariana Betsa told Ukrinform on 18 October that the instruction was drawn up at the request of community representatives abroad. More than eight million Ukrainians have had to leave their homes because of the war, she said, and the ministry works with over 700 diaspora organisations and about 500 cultural and educational centres. The certificate is meant to motivate children to keep their language and traditions and to feel part of the global Ukrainian community.
It carries no practical benefits. Ukranews quotes the Ukrainian embassy in the Czech Republic as saying the document is “encouraging in nature” and “does not grant any privileges to its holder”. Certificates are to be presented at a ceremony; who prints them and at what cost has not been disclosed.
Criticism from the diaspora
Critics in the diaspora have already spoken up. Maria Zhartovska, who runs the Yellow Blue platform in Toronto, wrote on Facebook that consulates are already hard to reach by phone or for appointments, and that passports for children with a non-Ukrainian parent are a problem of their own. Now, she noted, the head of a mission will decide whether a child “deserves” a certificate. We found no ministry response.
What this means
Our assessment: the idea is cheap and may give recognition to schools and associations that in Germany mostly run on volunteers. In October 2025 the government had already published the first verified Saturday and Sunday schools from seven countries, Germany among them. For families nothing changes for now: no entitlement, no deadline, no fee. Whether the certificate becomes more than a symbol depends on how transparent and simple the process is, which is exactly what critics doubt, and experience with consulates lends them some credit. Parents whose child attends a Saturday school can simply ask whether it plans to submit requests.
A separate “Homecoming” programme continues: by Betsa’s account, more than 700 children from 18 countries took part over six stages; the seventh runs from 31 October to 6 November.
Sources: Ukrinform (statement by Deputy Foreign Minister Betsa), Mediasapiens, Ukranews, Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
