Enemies of the state: Putin stifles Russian political exiles

MoscowVladimir Putin is not content with forcing hundreds of critics of his regime to flee Russia for fear of ending up in prison. He also wants to make their lives impossible in exile. For some months now, the authorities have begun adding opponents to the list of terrorists and extremists to hinder their access to funding abroad. And now a new law will further strangle them economically and threatens to effectively strip them of their citizenship.

The law provides for the creation of a register of enemies of the state: emigrants who, according to the authorities, are evading punishment in Russia. The sentence does not necessarily have to be for serious crimes; administrative sanctions for offenses such as "discrediting the military"—the most common form of punishment for those opposed to the war in Ukraine—are also taken into account. However, inclusion on the register is a decision of the Prosecutor General's Office, which acts with complete discretion.

Those added to this list will face several prohibitions: their funds in Russian banks will be frozen and their savings transferred to state-supervised accounts; they will be unable to obtain loans; they will be prohibited from selling their apartments or cars, or appointing a representative to do so; they will be barred from accessing the electronic platform for public services and will lose the right to consular assistance.

Passport and Citizenship

This last point is especially serious, according to the NGO Primer Departament. It means that those affected cannot renew their passports and, therefore, "essentially, their citizenship is being revoked," with all the inconveniences that come with not having an identity document. One of their lawyers, Maksim Oletxnik, explained to ARA that the Kremlin "wants to repress the critical voices that left Russia to denounce human rights violations." Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan, two journalists who had to flee in 2020 to avoid imprisonment, wrote in an article for CEAP that the law's objective is "to destroy the lives of opposition members and their economic base." Moscow, they believe, seeks to "intimidate and harass" people like them, and they conclude: "The language used leaves little room for understanding; there is no invitation to return, under any circumstances, only the promise of relentless and merciless pressure."

The Russian authorities' struggle is framed within an obsession with the supposed threat posed by political exiles as enemy agents and collaborators of the West. It is no coincidence that this law was drafted by the Commission for Foreign Interference, created immediately after the invasion of Ukraine, and whose primary function is to repress the opposition.

All terrorists

Another avenue the Russian state uses to try to bring about the civil death of exiles is the list of terrorists and extremists. Before the war, this registry primarily included people linked to radical Islamism. Later, the Anti-Corruption Foundation of Alexei Navalny and his associates was added, but with the start of the invasion, it began to expand to include any critic of the regime. In the last year, the number of "terrorists" has skyrocketed because it has also been permitted to include anyone suspected of "discrediting the Armed Forces"—that is, anyone who has questioned the war. Currently, it comprises nearly 25,000 people.

Researcher Alexandra Prokopenko points out in an article for the Carnegie Center Russia Eurasia that the Kremlin takes advantage of the mechanisms of the Western financial system to persecute dissidents. When a Russian exile appears on a list of terrorists and extremists, banks automatically trigger an alarm. Next, the banks demand documentation from customers, block innocuous transfers, and close their accounts. "International rules are formulated in such a way that everyone seems equally dangerous: whether a Russian political prisoner or a genuine ISIS fighter," he laments. Borogan and Soldatov also warn that this stratagem by the Russian government could severely restrict the movements of opposition figures abroad. In 2022, Moscow added many critics to lists with international arrest warrants, but Interpol refused to extradite those wanted for political offenses. However, the relief felt by many exiles at that time has faded as Putin has managed to reach bilateral extradition agreements with some twenty governments, including those of China, Morocco, Chile, Thailand, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Now, opposition figures are aware that setting foot in the wrong country can have fatal consequences.