Russian lawmakers consider bill to seize property of Ukraine war critics

The bill would allow the state to seize property from Russians who might have left the country and criticised the war in Ukraine.

Russia’s parliament has begun considering a bill that would give the state the power to seize the property of those convicted of defamation of the security forces.

“The State Duma has introduced amendments to the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes on the confiscation of property for public calls for activities directed against the security of the state, for discrediting the army and a number of other articles,” a statement by the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, said on Monday.

The statement said multiple officials, including Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the State Duma, co-authored the bill.

The bill would allow the state to seize property from Russians who might have left the country and have criticised the war in Ukraine but still rely on revenue from renting out their houses or apartments in Russia.

Since the beginning of the war in February 2022, criticising what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine has effectively become a crime.