Russians are offered not to bathe – Newspaper Kommersant No. 61 (7506) dated 04/10/2023

This working week in the State Duma will be very busy: its plans include several high-profile initiatives at once, one way or another related to the special military operation (SVO). The deputies will continue the fight against external enemies, once again attend to helping the families of the SVO participants and hear the final report of the parliamentary commission investigating the activities of American biological laboratories in Ukraine. In addition, vapes have rapidly entered the list of threats relevant to Russia: consideration of the newly introduced bill restricting their sale is also expected this week.

On April 11, at the first plenary session of this week, the Duma is to consider in the second reading the presidential bill “On Citizenship”, adopted in the first reading a year ago. Recall that, in particular, it expands the powers of the head of state to determine the categories of persons entitled to a simplified acquisition of Russian citizenship; reduces the requirements for admission to Russian citizenship for more than 20 categories of applicants; introduces the institution of termination of citizenship of the Russian Federation instead of canceling the decision on admission to citizenship. Compared to the version of the first reading, the number of articles of the Criminal Code (CC), the sentence on which may become the basis for the termination of acquired citizenship, has increased from 35 to 94. Among them are the discrediting of the army, calls for extremism, encroachment on the life of a statesman and the organization of an armed rebellion.

Also on Tuesday, the Duma will consider in the second reading amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses, clarifying liability for unauthorized entry into especially important and secure facilities (Article 20.17). United Russia, headed by Vice Speaker Irina Yarovaya and Chairman of the Security Committee Vasily Piskarev, proposed to single out as a separate offense unauthorized entry into the objects of the Russian Guard, the Ministry of Emergencies, the Foreign Intelligence Service, the Federal Security Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Federal Penitentiary Service, as well as objects classified as mobilization training and mobilization, and punish for this with a fine of 5 thousand to 10 thousand rubles. or arrest for up to ten days. At the same time, the previous wording about penetration into “an underground or underwater facility protected in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation” will be expanded: objects of the armed forces of the Russian Federation and the fuel and energy complex, “structures on communications” and “special cargo” will be added to it. The punishment will remain the same: a fine from 75 thousand to 200 thousand rubles. or arrest up to 15 days. Mr. Piskarev explained the introduction of the amendments by the “increased interest of the Ukrainian special services” in Russian strategic facilities: in the first quarter of 2022, three times more attempts to penetrate them were recorded than in the same period of 2021. In March, amendments were adopted to the Criminal Code of the same authors, establishing criminal penalties (up to four years in prison) for a repeated violation.

On April 11 or 12, the deputies will hear the final report of the parliamentary commission to investigate the circumstances related to the creation of American biological laboratories in Ukraine. Irina Yarovaya, co-chairman of the commission from the Duma side, will speak with him.

Kommersant’s source in the Duma does not rule out that amendments to the Criminal Code on tougher liability for terrorism and treason may be adopted as early as this week. Vasily Piskarev announced their introduction on Friday in his Telegram channel, noting that they were submitted for the second reading of another bill, which “will allow them to be considered promptly.” He also said that for several types of crimes, it is proposed to significantly increase the lower and upper limits of liability. For example, according to part 1 of Art. 205 (terrorist act without aggravating circumstances), the maximum term will increase from 15 to 20 years in prison, and under Art. 275 (treason) – from 20 years to life.

In parallel, the deputies are trying to make life easier for the families of the SVO participants. On April 11, the Duma plans to adopt two bills in the second reading, simplifying the recognition of participants in the special operation and citizens living in the NVO zone as missing, declaring them dead and establishing the fact of their death. With regard to such citizens, the rule will not apply, according to which a serviceman and a person missing in connection with hostilities can be declared dead by a court only two years after their end.

In addition to “special operations” initiatives, the Duma plans to include one “peaceful” one, but also very resonant. On Tuesday, the deputies will consider in the first reading a bill introduced on April 7 by 392 deputies led by Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin: it provides for the introduction of restrictions on the sale and advertising of vapes, as well as a ban on the addition of flavors and other additives to vape liquids that increase nicotine addiction. Legislators have regularly come up with proposals to completely ban vaping, but this idea has not been fully approved by the government. On March 23, Mr. Volodin raised this issue during a report on the work of the government, suggesting that Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin support the ban. He promised to formulate a position. And at a meeting of the Duma on April 5, the speaker announced that it is planned to introduce changes to tax legislation in order to multiply the excise taxes on vapes. He noted that since Russia is a member of the EAEU along with Belarus and Kazakhstan, where vapes are allowed, it is necessary to “find a solution that allows us, being in the legal field, to make vapes a product that will cost very much.”

Finally, this week the deputies may return to the draft law of United Russia from the defense committee, which on Friday was returned to the second reading for the adoption of amendments. According to the document, summons to conscripts can be sent by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt. The project also obliges the conscript, who did not wait for the summons, to appear at the military registration and enlistment office within two weeks from the start of the next conscription campaign. The head of the Defense Committee, Andrey Kartapolov (ER), assured the deputies that the reason for returning to the second reading was purely technical – the date the amendments came into force should be corrected (now it says April 1, 2022). But Kommersant’s interlocutors in the Duma do not exclude that a new norm may be included in the project – on the distribution of subpoenas through the State Services portal. True, so far this bill is not included in the plans for the next week: according to information from the Duma database, it is included in the approximate plan of legislative work for July.

Ksenia Veretennikova