By Ekaterina Janashia | 2026-01-05

The Kremlin has found a new way to deal with critics who fled the country: flip a switch and shut off their lives back home. A set of bills before the State Duma would freeze property, block banking access and cancel legal rights for Russians convicted of "political" crimes abroad, turning exile into a legal void.

The initiative comes from the State Duma's Commission on Foreign Interference and marks one of the most sweeping efforts yet to punish dissent outside Russia's borders. Commission head Vasily Piskarev introduced the package December 11 and described it as "temporary restrictive measures" for people he argues are hiding abroad to evade justice.

Rights advocates see something else entirely: a system that treats emigrants as a separate, controllable category -- visible to the state and subject to punishment even when they live elsewhere.

Targeting political exiles

The bills target those found guilty, often in absentia, under laws covering wartime "censorship," foreign agent designations, participation in "undesirable organizations," advocacy for sanctions and challenges to Russia's territorial claims. Convictions under several administrative and criminal statutes would automatically trigger penalties.

Critics warn the structure cements an emerging reality: punishment travels with the person. Once the courts issue a decision, the consequences follow, regardless of whether the accused ever returns.

The centerpiece is a public online registry maintained by the Prosecutor General's Office. Once a name appears, the state initiates a chain of restrictions. Remote banking stops. Authorities can immobilize assets inside Russia. People on the list cannot register property, operate through a power of attorney, register or sell vehicles, or rely on electronic signatures. Driver's licenses can be suspended.

Access to Russia's digital services portal, the backbone for everything from taxes to medical records, would be cut off. Consulates could refuse "certain consular actions," a vague category that could include passport renewals or notarizations, severing basic links needed to manage affairs from abroad.

The package also creates "special ruble accounts" to receive any state payments, such as pensions or benefits. Officials could seize those funds to cover fines or court judgments.

Another clause would permit "humanitarian" stipends for parents or spouses with no income who remain in Russia. The money would come directly from the listed person’s frozen assets or special account, effectively turning their private savings into monitored state support for relatives.

Piskarev framed the expansion of powers as a response to Western refusal to extradite suspects. He claimed NATO countries are "harboring" dozens of fugitives and argued that Russia needs tools to respond.

"The measures we have proposed are aimed at defending the principle of the inevitability of punishment," he said, placing political defendants alongside "terrorists, murderers and fraudsters."

Anger among emigrants

The legislation lands at a moment when hundreds of thousands of Russians have left since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, often staying digitally tied to the country through property management, tax filings and support for family members. By severing those ties, the state appears to be forcing a choice: return and face the courts, or live abroad without legal or financial identity at home.

Reaction from the diaspora has been swift and emotional.

"Yet another vile act," wrote Yulia Nikolskaya, a Facebook user.

"It's just like under Joseph Stalin," Nikita Krivocheine, another Facebook user, noted.

For some, the prospect of being stripped of rights without trial captures the broader turn in Russian politics.

One commenter described the project as an effort to silence even those who left: "This is designed to keep even those who left Russia without breaking a single law silent," wrote Pavel Kuznetsov.

"There will always be reasons to return -- to sell an apartment, visit family, or attend a funeral. But under the current senile regime, dissent itself has become a crime, and they want to make sure even emigrants understand that."

Observers note the proposal fits with other recent measures that bind personal life to state systems -- digital IDs, centralized services and economic levers that can be switched off. Supporters frame this as overdue modernization. Critics call it a "digital iron curtain."

The legislation has not yet appeared on the parliament's website, but on December 18, the State Duma unanimously approved the package in its first reading. Supporters say the law could take effect as early as March 1, 2026.

If enacted, it would take effect alongside policies that expand obligations on professionals and tighten control over mobility, reinforcing a model in which citizenship carries permanent, enforceable "duties," wherever a person lives.