Top Russian politicians and officials have been barred from leaving the country under a vicious crackdown from Vladimir Putin’s government.
The drastic move comes as a new sign of the Kremlin leader’s paranoia over the war with Ukraine amid fears that important anti-war ministers or civil servants might flee westwards.
Under the new rules, any Russian hoping to cross their own country’s borders must get the personal signature of Putin’s prime minister Mikhail Mishustin, The Bell independent media reported.
The British defence ministry has said such iron-fist moves are "likely designed to prevent the flight or defection of increasingly disaffected officials”.
Russian security services even went as far as confiscating the passports of some senior officials and state company executives.
The Bell also reported that others from a major state industrial company are “banned from travelling more than two hours’ drive outside Moscow without official permission.”
The move is said to reflect “deep suspicion” within the Kremlin and FSB about the loyalty of Russia’s civilian elite.
It alleged that many of them “privately oppose” the prolonged and bloody war in Ukraine and had struggled with how it impacted their lifestyles.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov has admitted there are “stricter rules” in place due to the “social military operation” - Putin's name for the invasion of Ukraine.
Sources said that even former officials who previously had access to state secrets have been ordered by the FSB to surrender their passports.
Some, who never had access to state secrets, are also being barred from leaving Russia in a return to draconian Soviet-era curbs.
Alexandra Prokopenko, who quit the Russian central bank during the war and now a now a visiting fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations, told Carnegie Politika: “Some civil servants and employees of state corporations were ordered to hand in their passports, and officials and state company employees at both federal and regional levels were barred from leaving Russia ...
“Before the war, such restrictions only applied to military personnel, those working for the security services, and civil servants with full access to classified information.”
In another move, Russia is poised to increase jail terms for espionage and other serious crimes, said Vasily Piskarev, head of the security and anti-corruption committee of the Russian parliament.
Now there will be a life sentence for treason and an increase in terms for crimes categorised as terrorism.
