Vladimir Putin signs law restricting rights of Russians abroad
On 4 August 2026 Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law that imposes sweeping restrictions on Russian citizens living outside the Russian Federation who have been convicted in absentia or are deemed to be evading punishment. The legislation creates a centralized blacklist managed by the Ministry of Justice; the Prosecutor General or his deputy can add names. The list is shared with the Federal Security Service, the Interior Ministry, the Central Bank and other state bodies.
People placed on the blacklist have their Russian bank accounts frozen, lose access to online banking and the state portal Gosuslugi, and are barred from selling or transferring property and vehicles. Consular services are curtailed – embassies will not issue new passports or provide most other assistance, offering only a simple identity confirmation. The law also prevents registration as an entrepreneur, obtaining loans, receiving state benefits and authorising others to act on their behalf.
Human‑rights groups and opposition figures say the measures amount to a de‑facto loss of citizenship, using financial and administrative pressure to silence critics of the Kremlin abroad. The law applies to a broad range of offences, including alleged “discrediting” of the Russian army, violation of foreign‑agent rules, participation in “undesirable” organisations and calls for sanctions against Russia.
Entities: Central Bank of Russia · Federal Security Service (FSB) · Ministry of Justice of Russia · Russian Federation · Russian Ministry of Justice · State Duma · Vladimir Putin · Vyacheslav Volodin
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [● 9 SOURCES] Vladimir Putin signed a law on 4 August 2026 that restricts the rights of Russian citizens living abroad who have been convicted in absentia. (multiple sources)
- [● 9 SOURCES] People on the blacklist have their Russian bank accounts frozen. (multiple sources)
- [● 9 SOURCES] Human‑rights groups describe the law as effectively stripping citizenship from affected Russians. (multiple sources)
- [● 9 SOURCES] Blacklisted individuals are prohibited from selling or transferring property and vehicles. (multiple sources)
- [● 9 SOURCES] The law denies consular services, including the issuance of new passports, to those on the list. (multiple sources)
- [● 9 SOURCES] Access to the state portal Gosuslugi and online banking is blocked for blacklisted individuals. (multiple sources)
- [● 9 SOURCES] The law creates a centralized blacklist of such individuals, maintained by the Ministry of Justice and updated by the Prosecutor General. (multiple sources)