Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday signed into force a law allowing authorities to confiscate assets from those convicted of speaking out against the Kremlin's Ukraine offensive.
Moscow has banned criticism of its grinding offensive and harshly punishes those who publicly oppose it, having adopted a range of strict laws after sending troops to Ukraine in February 2022.
The law enables authorities to seize money, property, assets and valuables from those convicted of criticising the offensive.
It could potentially target critical Russian exiles who fled their country but still have property back home.
Putin signed the document two weeks after Russia's parliament, the Duma, backed the bill.
Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said last month that the law targets "scoundrels and traitors, those who today spit on the backs of our soldiers, who have betrayed their homeland".
Moscow regularly brands the hundreds of thousands of Russians who left their country in protest over the military campaign as traitors.
The law comes into force ahead of the second anniversary of the Ukraine offensive and a month before Russia's presidential election.
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Comments ( 1)
Sounds like something a dictator would do to those who morally choose to not support his madness.
What are you waiting for oppressed Russians? Do you still think voting in putin's notoriously rigged elections, or your attempts at peaceful protest will help you retrieve what's left of your nation. Have you lost interest on your country's ability to be prosperous and accepted back into global communities again? Have you given up on leaving something better behind for your children? Have you become resigned to raise children to only later catch bullets for a criminal dictator that starts wars solely for his thug crony's glory and wealth?
How low will you let your pariah leader take your nation?