Duma to review bill that would curtail passports, assets and services for exiled Russians

Human Rights Watch said Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, is due to review a Kremlin-backed draft law on May 26 that would let authorities sharply restrict the lives of Russians abroad who have been accused or convicted under laws widely used against government critics.

In a report published Monday, HRW said the bill would allow authorities to cut targeted exiles off from passport renewals and other consular services, block access to state digital platforms, freeze assets in Russia and limit their ability to manage property or finances from abroad. HRW said independent media and experts have described the proposal as a law on exiles’ “civic death.”

The measure would apply to Russians living abroad who have been convicted or are subject to final administrative rulings under offenses that have become central to Russia’s post-2022 crackdown on dissent. Reporting cited by HRW and Russian outlets says those offenses include “discrediting” the armed forces, violating “foreign agent” rules, involvement with a banned “undesirable” organization, calling for sanctions against Russia and actions authorities characterize as undermining the country’s territorial integrity.

The practical effects would extend well beyond criminal punishment. According to HRW, OVD-Info and Russian press summaries, the draft would allow authorities to suspend or deny consular services, including passport renewals and notary services; block access to government digital services such as Gosuslugi, the state’s online portal for public services, and electronic signature tools; ban actions carried out through power of attorney; freeze bank accounts, assets and property in Russia; disable remote banking; restrict property registration and transfers; and place those targeted in a public registry. Reporting on the draft says Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office would apply the measures and publish the registry.

HRW said the draft was prepared by the State Duma’s special parliamentary commission “On Investigation of Foreign Interference in Russia’s Internal Affairs,” chaired by lawmaker Vasily Piskaryov. The proposal is not a new idea: OVD-Info and RBC reported that a closely related package with the same core restrictions passed the Duma in its first reading on Dec. 18, 2025.

Piskaryov has presented the legislation as a response to Western countries refusing Russian extradition requests and sheltering people officials describe as anti-Russian campaigners. In comments quoted by OVD-Info on Dec. 18, he made the bill’s coercive aim explicit: “We envisage these restrictions so that a person who is supposed to be serving a prison sentence will not want to live abroad and enjoy the benefits of civilisation: their desire to return to Russia should be much stronger than their desire to stay abroad. That is the ideology we wanted to embed in this bill.”

HRW said the proposal would deepen Russia’s campaign against exiled critics by extending pressure into ordinary civil and economic life. That broader crackdown has accelerated since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with expanded use of “foreign agent,” “undesirable organization” and army “discrediting” laws against activists, journalists and other critics.

The consular provisions are especially significant because they reach basic functions that people abroad rely on to maintain legal identity and handle routine affairs. Under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, consulates issue passports and travel documents and perform notarial acts. Suspending those services could affect not only exiles’ day-to-day lives but also interactions with authorities in the countries where they live.

If the Duma takes up the draft on May 26 as HRW reported, it would mark the next step in legislation designed to make exile itself more punitive — not by adding a new criminal case, but by cutting targeted Russians off from documents, services and property needed to function across borders.