Federation Council approved amendments on deprivation of acquired citizenship for discrediting the army

The Federation Council at a meeting on April 26 approved the law “On Citizenship of the Russian Federation”, which, among other things, expands the list of crimes, the commission of which entails the termination of acquired citizenship.

Now acquired citizenship can be revoked for discrediting the Russian Armed Forces (Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), desertion (Article 338 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), calls for the introduction of restrictive measures against Russia and its citizens (Article 284.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), rehabilitation of Nazism (Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), as well as violation of the territorial integrity of Russia (Article 280.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), etc.

Such a measure can also be taken in relation to those found guilty of public calls to unleash an aggressive war (Article 354 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and to extremist actions (Article 280 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), as well as of armed rebellion (Article 279 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and encroachment for the life of a civil servant (Article 277 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

The text of the explanatory note to the document noted that since May 2002 about 7.3 million people have been granted Russian citizenship.

President Vladimir Putin submitted the draft law “On Citizenship” to the State Duma at the end of December 2021. The document provides for a reduction in the number of requirements for more than 20 categories of persons when they receive Russian citizenship. We are talking about citizens of the former USSR, their children, participants in the state program to assist voluntary resettlement in Russia, etc.