On January 22, 2024, the russian state Duma, or lower house, discussed a bill to seize the financial assets, including property, of russians who openly criticise the russian military and the “special military operation”, the UK Defense Intelligence reports. A number of russian writers and a musician have been sentenced in recent months for their criticism of the war.
In July 2022, russian President Putin approved amendments to the 2012 foreign agents law, which came into force on December 1, 2022. This legislation has been widely used to repress opponents of the regime. According to OVID-Info, a russian human rights monitoring agency, in 2023, 217 individuals and organisations were designated foreign agents. As of November 3, 2023, according to the russian Ministry of Justice, the total list of foreign agents was 707. Foreign agents include independent russian news outlets and human rights organizations, many of which have been forced to operate outside of russia.
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This legislation highly likely seeks to deter and silence anti-war opposition. This recent bill in conjunction with the foreign agents measures, likely intends to restrict criticism of the war altogether.
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