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Without crossing borders: foreigners will be banned from entering for insulting Russia
Foreigners who violate the interests of the Russian Federation abroad will be banned from entering the country. This was stated to Izvestia by United Russia MP Airat Farrakhov, one of the authors of the bill on the seizure of property of citizens who violated Russian interests outside the country. The key amendment should be the list of offenses, including for foreign citizens. If the changes are adopted, the law will allow foreigners to be fined upon entry, the expert community believes. In addition, the amendments will make it possible to hold foreign agents and Russians who have left accountable if they violate articles of the administrative code. The information about when this bill may be adopted and who opposes its appearance is in the Izvestia article.
What amendments will the authors of the bill introduce?
Foreigners who have committed administrative offenses against the interests of the Russian Federation abroad will not be able to enter Russia. This was told to Izvestia by parliamentarian Airat Farrakhov, who, together with deputies of the State Council of Tatarstan, continues to work on amendments to the draft law on the seizure of property of persons who have committed administrative violations against the Russian Federation outside the country.
Airat Farrakhov clarified that the innovations will affect both Russians and foreign citizens. According to him, it is planned to directly ban people without Russian citizenship from entering the country.
— The very fact of the establishment of an offense is recorded in all registers, and if this person (a foreigner. — Ed.) if he ever wishes to visit the Russian Federation for tourism purposes, by invitation to a forum, or for any other reason, his offense and court decision will be a limiting moment for this citizen to exercise his right to visit our country," he told Izvestia.
The bill, the deputy added, also works for the future, when, after the end of the military conflict, all those who committed offenses against Russia will face problems entering the country.
Today, the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation does not allow foreigners to be held accountable if they are not in Russia. According to the Administrative Code, they can be expelled from the country only if they commit a violation on the territory of the Russian Federation, Igor Semenovsky, associate professor of the Department of International and Public Law at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, told Izvestia.
"The FSB has the right to refuse entry," he explained. — But it is better to punish a foreign violator by filing an appropriate charge at the border.
On May 13, 2025, the State Duma approved the bill in the first reading and decided to amend it by June 11. A key innovation will be a specific list of administrative offenses for which both Russians and foreigners abroad will be able to be held accountable. In a conversation with Izvestia, Airat Farrakhov listed the articles that will be spelled out in the new amendments, specifying that the list can be supplemented.
"We will try to reflect the entire list of offenses by the second reading," the deputy promised.
The list will include abuse of freedom of the media, violation of the procedure for the activities of a foreign agent, propaganda or public demonstration of Nazi symbols, incitement to hatred based on gender, race, nationality, language or religion, calls to violate the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation, public discrediting of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, production and distribution of extremist materials, as well as identification of the actions of the USSR with the decisions of the Nazi Germany and non-fulfillment of duties by owners of social networks.
Today, the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation allows for the prosecution of Russians abroad under only three articles. These include transactions with criminally obtained property in the interests of a legal entity, illegal remuneration from a legal entity, and participation in an international organization that is considered undesirable in Russia. The current bill proposes to significantly expand this list.
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If the law is passed, a ban on entry into the Russian Federation may be imposed on persons who, in particular, openly display Nazi symbols. By the way, it is possible that the introduction of a ban will be possible in relation to the American rapper Kanye West, who launched the sale of T-shirts with prohibited symbols. In March 2025, the American's concert in Russia was already canceled, and the last time he came to Moscow was last June for Gosha Rubchinsky's anniversary. By the way, in February, the designer stopped cooperating with West's brand amid his statements about "love for Hitler."
The second block of amendments prescribes a legal technique for the seizure of property in case a person refuses to pay a fine. First of all, this will affect the financial savings, bank accounts and real estate of the citizens who left. They will be arrested for the amount of the unpaid fine. After the violator extinguishes it, the arrest will be lifted.
According to Airat Farrakhov, many well-known media personalities who left the country have left their savings and accounts in Russia.
"I want to emphasize once again that this is an exclusively interim measure for the execution of a court decision, which can be appealed," the deputy added.
Special attention to the bill is indicated by the fact that the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice, as well as the Federation Council, the government and the presidential administration have already sent feedback on it. The government's response says it is ready to support the bill if it is finalized taking into account all the comments. The remaining reviews, as reported by the State Duma Committee on State Construction and Legislation, will be published after consideration of the amendments.
Izvestia sent a request to the specified departments.
Are the State Duma ready to support the bill
Following the results of the first reading, all Duma factions voted for the initiative, with the exception of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, which decided to abstain. The Communists were not satisfied with the lack of a list of administrative offenses for which citizens will be involved, deputy Alexei Kurinny told Izvestia. This is unacceptable from the point of view of the administrative code, he stressed.
In addition, according to the Communist Party, the bill does not specify a clear procedure for the seizure of property. The deputies also found the idea of holding foreigners abroad accountable controversial.
— From a technical point of view, it will be extremely difficult to implement, and from the point of view of effectiveness, the result will be almost zero, — said Kurinny.
Kurinny was supported by his party member, member of the Committee on state Building and Legislation Yuri Sinelshchikov. In an interview with Izvestia, he noted that he had not yet received an answer to his questions, and the Communist Party faction would proceed from the amendments when voting in the second reading.
— In eight cases out of ten, the faction's position will remain unchanged. As in the first reading, so on. But it can also change. We are flexible," Sinelshchikov said.
The leaders of the other factions fully approved the bill's ideas. The head of the Fair Russia — For Truth party, Sergei Mironov, told Izvestia that the SRWP would support the document in the second reading.
— We are talking about the inevitability of punishment for "departed" citizens who, while abroad, pour mud on our country. The concept of the bill as a whole is absolutely correct, we will support it," he said.
LDPR party leader Leonid Slutsky said that his faction would not only support the bill, but would also introduce toughening amendments in the second reading. According to him, they are related to the fact that foreign agents transfer apartments, cars and shares to relatives when they want to evade responsibility.
— The enemies of our country should not be allowed to live peacefully and comfortably at its expense. We believe that the arrest should be applied not only to property owned by a person acting against Russia, but also to property jointly owned by their spouses or shared property with other persons. Appropriate amendments will be made by us," he said.
The author of the bill, Airat Farrakhov, did not rule out that the law would be supported by the State Duma "one hundred percent." According to him, if proposals and amendments are received from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the relevant committee is ready to consider them. He added that he hopes the bill will be passed before the end of the spring session of Parliament on August 3.
Based on the fact that the bill is supported by almost all parliamentary factions, it is highly likely that it will be adopted. The speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin called it in his Telegram channel a bill "About scoundrels."
— We need to protect the country from those who have left and live on the money of foreign countries that supply military equipment to Ukraine. We are talking about foreign agents who are engaged in illegal activities, trying to destroy the state, our values, and think that once they have gone abroad, no one will reach them. That's not so. They still have movable and immovable property, accounts, rent out their apartments, receive income," said the speaker of the State Duma during the first reading.
The Law on Foreign Agents was adopted in 2012. Over the past three years, measures against them have been consistently tightened, and the new bill may become the toughest among all previously adopted. So, in March 2024, Russian advertisers were banned from advertising on the sites of foreign agents, which is why the latter lost most of their income. And starting from September 1, they will be banned from conducting any educational activities.
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