Russia strips two comedians of naturalized citizenship and bans them from country over anti-war statements

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has stripped stand-up comedians Slava Komissarenko and Dmitry Romanov of their Russian citizenship, according to a press release published on the agency’s website. Both comedians have also been banned from entering Russia.

The FSB cited their performances in E.U. countries, during which they “spoke out against the special military operation” and “promoted ideas aimed at undermining the constitutional order of the Russian Federation.” The agency claimed their actions “pose a threat to national security” and said the decision was made in accordance with Russia’s citizenship law.

Slava Komissarenko was originally a citizen of Belarus. After the country’s widespread anti-government protests in 2020, Komissarenko repeatedly condemned the authorities’ violent crackdown and spoke out about election fraud. He’s also known for his parodies of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. By the end of 2021, Komissarenko had become a naturalized Russian citizen, but he left the country in 2022, citing persecution by the Belarusian KGB. In late 2024, a Minsk court sentenced him in absentia to six years in prison. He is also on the Belarusian Interior Ministry’s list of “extremists.”

Dmitry Romanov, a former performer on the TV show “Stand Up,” was born and raised in Odesa before moving to Moscow. He became a Russian citizen in 2018. Romanov left Russia in 2022 and announced in 2023 that he had obtained an Israeli passport. He has also applied for Romanian citizenship. “I decided that I want to get every citizenship I can — so I can be as much of a world citizen as possible,” Romanov has said.