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Russia passes ‘civil death’ legislation to freeze exiled critics’ money, block their passports, and cut off consular aid

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New rules come closer to stripping the Kremlin’s critics of Russian citizenship

On July 22, State Duma deputies passed two laws intended to ensure the “inevitability of punishment” for those evading Russian justice abroad. Human rights advocates from the organization First Department directly call the new rules a path toward the de facto stripping of citizenship from opponents of the ruling regime, whom the authorities are prosecuting under political articles of Russia’s Criminal Code.

  • One of the laws introduces “temporary restrictive measures” against people who were convicted in Russia but are abroad and evading punishment. Before that happens, they will all be entered into a new public registry — a kind of “enemies of the people” list.
  • The second document introduces related amendments to 11 federal laws at once.
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Does this bill take direct aim at defendants in political cases?

No. On paper, the restrictions can be imposed on anyone dodging punishment in a criminal case. The underlying case could be anything from international terrorism to copyright infringement. They can also be imposed on people dodging an administrative penalty — but only for a short list of offenses. And those offenses are precisely the political ones:

  • “Foreign agent” offenses
  • Participation in the activities of “undesirable organizations”
  • Calls to violate Russia’s territorial integrity
  • Calls to impose sanctions
  • “Discrediting” the Russian army and the authorities
  • Part 4² of Article 19.5 (“Failure to comply, within the prescribed time limit, with a lawful order or warning issued by the body exercising state oversight of compliance with Russian Federation legislation on foreign agents, to remedy violations of that legislation”)
  • Article 19.34 (“Violation of the procedure governing the activities of a foreign agent”)
  • Article 20.3² (“Public calls for actions aimed at violating the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation”)
  • Article 20.3³ (“Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for the purpose of protecting the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens, maintaining international peace and security, or the exercise by Russian state bodies of their powers for these purposes, or aimed at discrediting the provision of assistance by volunteer formations, organizations, or individuals in carrying out tasks assigned to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation or the troops of the National Guard of the Russian Federation”)
  • Article 20.3⁴ (“Calls for the imposition of restrictive measures against the Russian Federation, citizens of the Russian Federation, or Russian legal entities”)
  • Article 20.33 (“Participation in the activities of a foreign or international organization whose activities have been declared undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation”)

Even so, not all of the bill’s “targets” will necessarily end up in a public registry of “enemies of the people.” At least not right after the law takes effect. The Justice Ministry will decide each person’s case individually. The ministry will take nominations from the Federal Security Service (FSB), the Interior Ministry, the Federal Bailiff Service, the Federal Tax Service, and the Prosecutor General’s Office. The bill also calls for the Russian president to issue a decree creating an interagency commission to apply the restrictions.

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Is it clear exactly whom the bill will be used against?

It’s hard to say for certain without seeing how it’s enforced. Judging by the list of administrative offenses in the bill, the main targets are likely to be the government’s political opponents, human rights defenders, journalists working for independent outlets in exile, and other public critics of the authorities.

State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin’s rhetoric points the same way. At the July 22 session, he found time to call the people who might end up on the list “degenerates,” “traitors to the motherland,” “scoundrels,” and a string of other names.

But in principle, anyone who has left the country and been convicted in absentia in a Russian criminal case could suit the Justice Ministry’s purposes — especially if the security services ask.

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What restrictive measures will be imposed on them?

The bill sets out a wide range of restrictions and bans designed to force people back to Russia to face punishment — the alternative being “civil death.” For example:

  • A freeze on all assets, including money in Russian banks
  • The transfer of all income into a special account

A special account is a ruble-denominated account at an authorized bank. It can be opened in the name of a person on the Prosecutor General’s Office list — without that person’s knowledge or consent. All transfers from the state and from individuals and legal entities will go into it.

The bill’s authors modeled it on the special accounts introduced for “foreign agents.” The authors also specified that if someone on the list already has a “foreign agent” special account, no new one needs to be opened.

The money in the account can be used for two things only: paying whatever the state claims — “sums collected into the budgets of the Russian Federation’s budget system” — and monthly humanitarian allowances for close relatives who have no income of their own.

  • A ban on selling real estate and vehicles
  • A ban on transactions by power of attorney
  • A ban on using Gosuslugi, the government services portal
  • A ban on internet banking — at least for money transfers
  • A ban on certain consular services
  1. A ban on registering individuals as individual entrepreneurs;
  2. A ban on registering an individual with the tax authorities as a taxpayer under the special tax regime known as the “professional income tax” (Russia’s self-employment tax);
  3. Returning an application for state cadastral registration of real estate and/or state registration of property rights — along with the documents attached to that application — without review, as provided for under Federal Law No. 218-FZ, “On State Registration of Real Estate,” dated July 13, 2015 (this is new wording);
  4. Restrictions on an individual’s right to drive a motor vehicle, as granted under Federal Law No. 196-FZ, “On Road Traffic Safety,” dated December 10, 1995;
  5. A ban on state registration of vehicles under the procedure established by Federal Law No. 283-FZ, “On the State Registration of Vehicles in the Russian Federation and Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation,” dated August 3, 2018;
  6. Denial of the right to enter into a credit agreement or a loan agreement;
  7. Denial of state and municipal services in electronic form;
  8. Denial of new licenses (permits, accreditations) and suspension of previously issued ones;
  9. A ban on credit institutions providing such an individual with access to their software (including mobile applications and official websites on the internet) for making money transfers (the wording was also changed here);
  10. Freezing (blocking) of funds and other property, except in cases provided for under Articles 9 and 10 of this Federal Law;
  11. Restrictions on performing consular functions — as provided for under Clauses 3 through 5 of Part 1 of Article 18; Part 2 of Article 20; Articles 21 and 22; Clause 1 (regarding state registration of marriage and name changes) and Clause 2 of Article 25; Clauses 1 through 4, 6 through 11, and 13 of Part 1 of Article 26; and Articles 27 and 28 of Federal Law No. 154-FZ, “The Consular Charter of the Russian Federation,” dated July 5, 2010 — with respect to such an individual or at that individual’s request;
  12. Denial of notarial services on behalf of an individual, except for notarial actions performed by consular officials as provided for under Clauses 8 and 18 of Part One of Article 38 of the Fundamentals of Russian Federation Legislation on Notaries, dated February 11, 1993, No. 4462-1;
  13. A ban on entering into transactions on an individual’s behalf, or taking other legally significant actions in that individual’s interest, under a power of attorney;
  14. A ban on an individual’s use of an electronic signature to sign electronic documents, a ban on issuing that individual a qualified electronic signature verification key certificate, and invalidation of any qualified electronic signature verification key certificate previously issued to that individual.
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Does this apply only to Russians?

No. On paper, the “temporary restrictive measures” are designed to cover anyone, including foreign nationals. But most of the restrictions, like the ban on certain consular services, will create problems only for Russians.

Consulates will not accept applications from people the bill calls “evaders” seeking to:

  • renounce Russian citizenship;
  • obtain a new foreign-travel passport;
  • marry;
  • change their name;
  • legalize foreign official documents;
  • or request personal records — of a marriage, employment, or education, for instance.

Consulates will not perform any notarial acts, except for:

  • certifying that a citizen is alive;
  • certifying that the signature of a person with a visual impairment matches a facsimile of that signature.

If a Russian citizen is detained, arrested, or imprisoned, consular officials:

  • will not try to visit them;
  • will not provide legal assistance;
  • will not help deliver letters or parcels.

And if a Russian citizen is stranded abroad without money, consular officials will not help them contact relatives or acquaintances.

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Why are these measures called temporary?

Because they can be lifted if a person:

  • comes to Russia;
  • gets the conviction or the administrative penalty overturned remotely;
  • or complies with the court’s ruling remotely.

The last point is easiest to show with administrative offenses. All of them are punishable solely by a fine. In most cases, the offender will have to pay 30,000 to 50,000 rubles. Or more, if the person has committed several offenses.

So for “foreign agents” and members of “undesirable organizations” facing only administrative fines, getting off the list should be relatively easy — in theory. How it will work in practice, we don’t know.

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What should Russians do if they’re at risk of ending up in the new registry?

At a minimum, get a second foreign-travel passport, and sell off major assets in Russia — cars, real estate — if they can. Better yet, they should talk to a lawyer first and get a proper assessment of their risks.

But there isn’t much time left. The Federation Council has 14 days to review the bill. After that, the president has another 14 days to sign it. In all likelihood, though, it will happen much faster. The law will take effect the day it’s officially published — probably before the end of the summer.

At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.

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Denis Dmitriev