Russia has tightened legislation allowing for the revocation of acquired citizenship — another step in the systemic pressure on regime opponents.
On July 17, the Russian State Duma passed a law increasing the number of articles in the Criminal Code that can lead to the loss of acquired citizenship from 64 to 81. The list now includes serious crimes as well as vague formulations like “crimes motivated by extremism” or “justification of terrorism and sabotage.”
These formulations leave room for arbitrary interpretation: the same sanctions can be applied both to individuals convicted of violent crimes and to users who posted opposition content on social media.
Dozens of cases of citizenship revocation have already been recorded — mostly among those convicted under “terrorism” and “extremism” articles.
Losing citizenship in Russia means losing almost all basic rights. Stateless persons (apatrids) have no access to official employment, public healthcare, education, housing rental, driver's licenses, or other state services. This renders a person legally “invisible” and effectively pushes them out of the country.
Russian authorities claim that the new provisions will not apply to residents of occupied Ukrainian territories who received Russian passports. However, according to Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service, residents of the “new regions” and even those with citizenship by birth will be the next to face these measures.
