Key facts
- Russia's State Duma passed a law to strip rights of citizens abroad.
- The law targets individuals evading prosecution at home on political grounds.
- Affected individuals will face frozen bank accounts and property seizure.
- Consular services, including passport renewal, will be blocked.
- Lawyers describe the measures as a de facto loss of citizenship.
Russia's State Duma has approved a new law that will strip property rights, bank accounts, and consular services from Russians living abroad who are evading prosecution at home on political grounds. The legislation, passed in its second and third readings simultaneously, is described by lawyers as amounting to a de facto revocation of citizenship.
State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin stated the law is aimed at those who "harm our country," including "extremists, traitors to our homeland" and those who justify Nazism or insult soldiers and officers while hiding abroad. Under the new measures, Russians abroad facing criminal prosecution at home will have their bank accounts frozen, be unable to sell property or vehicles, have licenses and accreditations suspended, and be denied access to banking apps and state or consular services, including passport renewal.
The law also applies to individuals sanctioned administratively for violating Russia's foreign agents law, calling for sanctions against Russia, inciting territorial integrity violations, discrediting the armed forces, or participating in organizations deemed undesirable by Russia. It takes effect immediately upon official publication.
This legislation is the latest in a series of measures Russia has implemented to suppress dissent, which have accelerated since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Previous laws criminalized the spread of "knowingly false information" about the armed forces and "discrediting" the army. The foreign agents law, originally enacted in 2012, has also been expanded to include individuals and carries significant restrictions.
Legal professionals from the First Department noted that the cumulative effect of these laws creates an "internally 'cancelled citizen'" status, where property and accounts can be used against individuals while they are deprived of the ability to use them in their own interests. OVD-Info, a human rights project, identified political activists, journalists, lawyers, and participants in organizations labeled as extremist or undesirable as being at the greatest risk.