Features of the legal status of a citizen of Belarus holding a passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation

The article examines the peculiarities of the legal status of a citizen of Belarus who is simultaneously a citizen of the Union State of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation. With the proclaimed equality of rights of citizens of the Union State in the territories of the Union member states, Belarusians in Russia and Russians in Belarus remain foreign citizens with all the existing restrictions. Having analyzed the peculiarities of the current legislation of the Russian Federation, the author found that having received Russian citizenship and a Russian passport, a citizen of Belarus does not acquire the full scope of constitutional rights of a full-fledged citizen of Russia. The article notes the existing prohibitions and restrictions in Russia for Russian citizens who have dual citizenship, without any exceptions for union citizens of Russia and Belarus, citizens of the Republic of Belarus. It is proposed to change the current legislation by concluding an agreement between Russia and Belarus in order to bring the status of union citizens who have citizenship of both states in line with the status of exceptional citizens of the state (who do not have other citizenship) in which the union citizen resides.