Ukrainian TV host confessed why he did not get rid of his Russian passport

Oleksii Sukhanov, a TV presenter born and raised in Russia who has been working on Ukrainian television since 2014, has revealed what he did with his Russian passport when he became a Ukrainian citizen. The journalist officially became a Ukrainian on the eve of the Russian invasion in February last year.

In a conversation with OBOZ.UA, Sukhanov explained why he cannot get rid of the Russian document. He also said that he dreams of doing so and will throw it in the trash at the first opportunity.

"My Russian passport expired in May," Sukhanov says, "but I still have it. I keep it because I need it to reissue the documents for my Latvian apartment. I bought it with this passport. When I'll go through all of this paperwork, I'll throw it away at the office. What do I need it for? For me, a Ukrainian passport is a legal right to become a part of great people. The Ukrainian spirit is what I admire."

Oleksii Sukhanov is the owner of an apartment in Jūrmala, which he last visited a year ago when he was on a business trip to Latvia.

"Now my apartment is being taken care of," Oleksii says. "I have flowers growing there. They send me photos. I'm not going to say who helps me, but it's a very cool person whom I trust. I myself was in my apartment about a year ago when I was on a business trip. I used to miss Kyiv a lot when I came to Jūrmala. And when I came back, I missed Jūrmala. But now I don't know how it will be because a lot of Russians have come there. And I don't want to hear or see them. For me, they are just disgusting representatives of the human world. I remember a long time ago, even before the war, when there was a line at the Riga airport for a flight to Moscow, and I was avoiding it by all means. I couldn't bring myself to walk alongside it. I don't want to go back there, neither in my mind nor physically. For me, this country no longer exists."

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