The Verkhovna Rada voted on March 30 to accept
e-passports as ID for most uses, it posted on its Telegram channel. Border
crossings, as well as crossing into and out of the temporarily occupied
territories of Ukraine still require paper passports. The report notes that
this makes Ukraine the first country in the world to accept electronic IDs. The
bill garnered wide support, with 302 deputies voting for it, and 226 needed for
passage.
James Hydzik: President Zelensky still needs to sign the bill for it to become law,
but there is no reason to expect him not to do so. The move helps his
“government on an app” electoral promise, and may help move the government away
from the problem of fake IDs. So far, unlike biometric passports, there has
been little opposition to the move, though in the end, from a technological
perspective, biometric (and tax) data can be added easily through an app.