A new Russian law will allow broad economic, administrative and civil restrictions to be applied to citizens living outside the country, including Government critics and voices opposed to the war, warned Mariana Katzarova, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Russian Federation. The expert noted that the legislation represents a new tool of pressure against Russians in exile and deepens repression both inside and outside the country.
The legislation was signed on 4 August by President Vladimir Putin and establishes "temporary restrictive measures" for people outside Russia who, according to the authorities, evade compliance with sanctions. The Ministry of Justice will maintain a public list of Russians abroad with pending criminal convictions or sanctioned for administrative violations. People included on it may be subject to 14 categories of restrictions spanning numerous aspects of daily life.
Among the measures are the freezing of funds and property, the suspension of licences, the annulment of digital signatures and the loss of access to State digital services. Also included are restrictions on consular services such as the issuance and renewal of passports, as well as limitations on driving vehicles, carrying out real estate transactions, obtaining credit, working as self-employed and accessing remote banking services.
Katzarova warned that the application is not limited to criminal convictions but can also be triggered by politically motivated administrative violations, including those related to rules on "foreign agents", "undesirable organisations" and provisions against the "discrediting of the armed forces". According to the expert, Russian courts have used these provisions since 2022 to punish journalists, lawyers, human rights defenders, artists and anti-war activists.
The rapporteur expressed particular concern about the lack of safeguards in the procedure: no court decides who is included on the list, the affected person is not notified or heard, and although the restrictions are classified as "temporary", the legislation sets no time limit. Katzarova argued that in practice the law amounts to mass punishment of Government critics designed to make life outside Russia unsustainable, leaving them in a situation of de facto statelessness.