Medvedev proposed to ban foreign agents from receiving income from Russian sources

Russians recognized as foreign agents should not receive income in Russia, the legislation must be amended accordingly, said Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev in an interview with Russian media, a fragment of which the politician published on Saturday in his Telegram channel.

According to Medvedev, leaving Russia or staying is the personal choice of each person, and one can only condemn him from a moral point of view, but not from a legal one. At the same time, if such people “threshed something”, but are not the subjects of criminal prosecution, they can return home after “public repentance,” the politician believes.

Medvedev also spoke about the Russians who committed a criminal offense related to discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and, living abroad, receive money “from Russian sources.” According to him, this is “both immoral and unacceptable.”

“I believe that it is necessary to amend the legislation on foreign agents, where it is directly established that persons recognized as foreign agents not only have a certain status – there are a lot of restrictions for them listed – but also do not have the right to receive income from Russian sources” , – he said.

As an example, the deputy chairman of the Security Council cited the writer Boris Akunin, who left Russia and “curses the country, the special military operation and our armed forces.” At the same time, works based on his books continue to be staged in Russia, Medvedev added.

The status of a foreign agent in Russian legislation appeared in 2012 along with changes in the law on NGOs, it has been assigned to the media since 2017, to individuals – since 2020. A new register of foreign agents appeared on April 5, 2022 – the Ministry of Justice enters into it those individuals who received funding from Ukraine and engaged in political activities.