Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law which expands the grounds for revoking naturalised Russian citizenship, including perceived collaboration against Russia.
Seventy-two new offences have been added to the decree, all of which could see a person lose their acquired citizenship if committed.
Most of the list features severe or violent crimes, such as murder, violent sexual acts, sexual acts committed against minors, causing serious bodily harm, and involuntary manslaughter.
Acts deemed as threats to national security, including public calls for terrorist activities, the justification or propaganda of terrorism, and unlawful actions against Russian critical information infrastructure, are also mentioned.
Next month, another ruling will come into effect across Russia, which aims to drive Satanism out of the country, after Russian officials and MPs pledged to take down the ‘international satanism movement’ following accusations of ‘satanic sex orgies’.
Fans of the heavy metal music genre could be targeted by the retroactive law due to the genre’s common association with devil-worship and the occult, potentially facing up to eight years in prison.
This tightening grip by Russian lawmakers coincides with a rise in the number of prisoners pulled from jail cells and placed on the frontline against Ukraine, with Ukrainian intelligence estimating that, as of November 2024, 180,000 convicts were fighting for Putin.
Anyone deemed to be cooperating with a foreign state Russia deems as ‘hostile’ can be stripped of their citizenship due to being considered a threat to the country’s security interests, according to the new law.
This covers anyone knowingly assisting in activities deemed by a court to undermine Russia’s security or publicly calling for actions against the state’s security. Promoting Nazi symbols or propaganda will also be outlawed.
In May, Putin also passed legislation which made it easier for residents of Georgia’s Abkhazia and South Ossetia territories, which Russia has occupied since 2008, to gain Russian citizenship, according to the state-owned TASS news agency.
Any adult “citizen” of Abkhazia and South Ossetia who held that status as of August 26, 2008, the date Russia recognised the territories as ‘independent’, can apply for citizenship.
Both occupied areas maintain a heavy military presence, with Russia backing independence movements to influence the occupation, similar to how it has acted in Ukraine.
In August 2024, Russia’s Interior Ministry reportedly claimed the invading country had issued more than 2million Russian passports to residents of the occupied Ukrainian territories of Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk, and Luhansk.