Russia is moving to legally protect foreign nationals who join its military from being extradited or expelled – a step that, if enacted, would allow thousands of foreigners fighting for Moscow to avoid prosecution in their home countries.
The Russian government’s commission on legislative activity has approved a package of amendments prohibiting the extradition of foreign citizens and stateless persons who serve or have served under contract in the Russian Armed Forces or other military formations, including those taking part in hostilities in Ukraine. The measure also extends protection to individuals wanted or convicted abroad, banning their transfer “for criminal prosecution and the execution of sentences” requested by other states.
Administrative penalties replace deportation
Instead of administrative expulsion, the bills propose that such foreign nationals receive fines ranging from 1,000 to 50,000 rubles ($12.29 to $614.43) or compulsory work for up to 200 hours. Igor Cherepanov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Association of Lawyers of Russia, told TASS that under the new rules, also include a ban on visiting official sports venues for up to seven years for certain administrative offenses.
“The innovation provides for the refusal to extradite a person to a foreign state if the said person is a foreign citizen or a stateless person undergoing military service under contract … and who participated in combat operations,” Cherepanov said.
The draft legislation also amends Article 464 of the Criminal Procedure Code and two federal laws – On the Procedure for Leaving and Entering the Russian Federation and On the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation – to extend broad protection to foreign and stateless individuals engaged in Russia’s war.
Russian business newspaper Vedomosti reported that those who have fought for Russia will be exempt from deportation, readmission, entry bans, or the cancellation of residence and work permits. Any such decisions made after Feb. 24, 2022, “cease to be valid and are not subject to execution,” the paper said.
Cherepanov told Vedomosti that the purpose of these measures is to preserve military secrecy and to ensure that sensitive information about Russian operations “does not fall into third countries through international requests.” He added that foreigners who have served under contract to “perform combat missions” and should not be handed over to foreign jurisdictions.
Pathway to Russian citizenship
In addition to protecting those who have already served, the amendments are expected to encourage new recruits from abroad. Russian leader Vladimir Putin in July 2025 signed a law permitting stateless persons to sign contracts with the Russian armed forces until the end of mobilization or the abolition of martial law. Those who enlist before the end of the war can obtain citizenship without language or residency requirements.
According to Ukrainian news publication Mezha, State Duma Deputy Oleksiy Kurinny described the legislative package as “the restoration of common sense,” saying that such migrants “have the primary right to obtain citizenship of the Russian Federation.”
The draft builds on a November presidential decree allowing foreign and stateless persons who served in the so-called “special military operation” to apply for citizenship through a simplified procedure.
Moscow’s legal shield for foreign mercenaries
According to Vedomosti, the presidential Human Rights Council has been monitoring cases in Central Asia where courts convicted citizens for joining Russian forces abroad – a pattern that Russian officials cite to justify the new protections. Courts in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan have handed down prison terms of up to five years for fighting in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian initiative “I Want to Live” has also published data on more than 1,100 Uzbek citizens and hundreds of Tajik and Kazakh nationals who signed contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry.
Lawyer Natalia Malinovskaya, an adviser to the President of the Voronezh Bar Association, proclaimed that the policy reflects a principle of “social justice,” arguing that each person’s contribution to “defense and the maintenance of law and order in new territories” should receive a corresponding state response. She said that less severe forms of legal liability for foreign contract fighters were “appropriate and justified.”
Mezha concludes that the proposed laws “will significantly affect the legal status of foreigners who serve or have served in Russian armed formations, as well as the possibility of international requests in the future.”
If adopted, the amendments would consolidate Russia’s role as a destination for foreign fighters and shield them from foreign jurisdictions seeking to hold them accountable for their actions in Ukraine.