A draft law proposing an expansion of the grounds for revoking Russian citizenship acquired by migrants has been submitted for consideration to the State Duma (Russia’s lower chamber of parliament).  This was announced by the State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin on his Telegram channel.

The proposed amendments include new grounds such as: committing acts of sexual violence, public incitement to terrorism, confidential cooperation with a foreign state, assisting in the implementation of decisions made by international organizations in which Russia does not participate.

Additional grounds include aiding an adversary in actions against Russia’s security, promoting Nazi symbols or paraphernalia, public calls to undermine state security, and unauthorized interference with Russia’s critical information infrastructure.

Volodin emphasized that the adoption of the bill would create a systemic and comprehensive legal framework for the termination of Russian citizenship and strengthen national security.

How citizenship legislation has evolved

Until 2023, the law on citizenship adopted in 2002 listed 18 articles of the Criminal Code as grounds for revoking citizenship.  These primarily involved terrorism-related crimes, extremist activity, violent attempts to seize power, creation of illegal armed groups, attempts on the lives of public officials, and hostage-taking.

In March 2023, a new law was enacted that expanded this list more than threefold — to 64 articles of the Criminal Code.

Since the law came into effect on October 26, 2023, citizenship can also be revoked for spreading false information about the Russian Armed Forces (Article 207.3), discrediting the military, desertion, draft evasion, violations related to foreign agent status, espionage, and treason.

First cases of citizenship revocation

The first known case occurred in December 2023, when two men were stripped of their acquired citizenship following charges under Article 228 (2) of Russia’s Penal Code -- acquisition, storage, transportation, and production of large quantities of narcotics.

The next reported case came in March 2024.  According to RIA Novosti, Alexander Somryakov lost his citizenship after being sentenced to six years in prison for social media posts containing false information about the actions of the Russian military in Mariupol and Bucha.  He was charged under Article 207.3 of Russia’s Penal Code — spreading fake news about the Armed Forces.