By Murad Rakhimov | 2025-05-22

TASHKENT -- In cities like Berlin, Tbilisi and Yerevan, Russians who fled the war are discovering a new form of punishment: the disappearance of their homes, bank accounts and businesses left behind, all carried out by decree.

The Kremlin has begun formalizing its hostility toward citizens in exile. Under new laws signed by President Vladimir Putin, Russian authorities now may seize the property of those labeled "traitors," a term broad enough to include anyone who opposes the war or simply refused to fight in it.

The speaker and the 'scoundrels'

On April 21, Putin signed legislation amending two Russian criminal codes, expanding the list of offenses subject to criminal punishment. Discrediting the army, calling for sanctions against Russia or helping to enforce decisions by international organizations not recognized by Moscow are now prosecutable crimes.

That same day, a government committee backed a bill introduced by United Russia lawmakers targeting individuals who share information with foreign states. It could be used to prosecute Russians who fled the country after its invasion of Ukraine.

United Russia is the ruling party.

Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code, which criminalizes "discrediting" the army, carried only administrative penalties when it took effect in March 2022, shortly after the invasion began. Criminal charges applied only to repeat offenses within a year. During that initial period, courts reviewed 5,662 cases and fined 4,440 defendants a total of 151.3 million RUB, or about $2.3 million at the start of 2023.

But as the Kremlin tightened enforcement, the focus shifted from fines to prison terms. Under the new April amendments, even a single offense of discrediting the military may now result in a lengthy sentence.

Just weeks later, on May 11, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin announced further legal steps targeting Russians living abroad.

In a Telegram post titled "On Scoundrels," Volodin said the proposed law would allow authorities to initiate proceedings against Russians abroad for offenses deemed "directed against Russia's interests."

These include actions such as discrediting the army, spreading "fake news," promoting Nazi symbols and violating social network regulations. To enforce court rulings in such cases, Volodin added, the state would be empowered to seize the defendants' property.

Tightening the grip further

Russia long has used property seizures to pressure dissenters, Alexander Kim, a self-exiled Russian blogger and activist who works against xenophobia, said. The latest laws are tightening that grip further, forcing critics to speak in euphemisms and adopt self-censorship just to stay safe.

Legal resistance within Russia is now virtually impossible, Kim said.

"Human rights work has been pushed into a narrow niche," he told Kontur, adding that the new measures are aimed primarily at critics who fled the country after the invasion of Ukraine but still own property in Russia. While he doubts many will abandon activism over "some hypothetical apartment in Moscow," he admits the pressure is real.

Yet, Kim questions the law's long-term effectiveness.

"It looks obviously illegal and could be reversed after a regime change," he noted. More concerning, he said, is the possibility that authorities might soon begin targeting the relatives of exiled critics, bringing Russia closer to the tactics of regimes like Turkmenistan and North Korea.

The law is unlikely to significantly affect a country where civil liberties are already nearly extinguished, Alisher Ilkhamov, director of the London-based Central Asia Due Diligence, said.

But the legislation is a signal aimed at émigrés who oppose the war and still have ties to Russia, he said.

"Putin has trained his sights on them," Ilkhamov told Kontur, suggesting that as the war drags on with mounting Russian casualties, the Kremlin fears an eventual rise in antiwar sentiment.

He warned of potential repercussions for post-Soviet states. "If cooperating with [Western] sanctions is criminalized in Russia, pressure could extend to neighboring republics that participate in those sanctions," he said.

Dmitry Dubrovsky, a lecturer in social sciences at Charles University in Prague, emphasized the ambiguity of terms like "discrediting the army," which he said now encompasses virtually all forms of antiwar expression.

The recent legal changes criminalize cooperation with many international bodies, including the European Court of Human Rights and the International Criminal Court, by treating compliance as a hostile act, he said.

"Defending human rights in Russia has become even more dangerous," Dubrovsky told Kontur. "Working with almost any international organization other than the UN [United Nations] can now be treated as a crime."

What is considered 'discrediting'?

"Discrediting the army" in Russia can now be as simple as a public remark.

A second-year student at Sakhalin Maritime College in early 2023 had to pay a fine after arguing with an instructor about the war, illustrating how verbal statements can trigger legal consequences.

But the most prominent early criminal case under the new laws involved Moscow city council member Aleksei Gorinov. At a March 2022 council meeting, Gorinov criticized a proposed children's drawing contest, saying it resembled "a feast in time of plague" given that "nearly 100 children have already died in Ukraine."

He condemned the war in Ukraine, invoking the word that the Kremlin refuses to use for its invasion, and lamented that "grandchildren and great-grandchildren of World War II survivors have been thrown into the fire of these combat operations." For these remarks, he received a seven-year prison sentence.

The April amendments to the law have further expanded punishable offenses. Calling for or assisting the enforcement of international sanctions against Russia or its citizens now carries fines of 1 to 3 million RUB ($12,300–$37,100), up to five years of forced labor or five years in prison. Facilitating compliance with decisions by international bodies not recognized by Russia is punishable by up to seven years in prison. In all such cases, authorities may confiscate property.