The Russian State Duma has passed in the third and final reading a law allowing “foreign agents” to be prosecuted for administrative offences allegedly committed outside Russia.
Amendments to the Administrative Code allow for the in absentia punishment of “foreign agents”, including in cases of violation of the procedure for their activities.
“About 40 per cent of foreign agents have moved abroad. We have envisaged bringing them to justice abroad,” Vasily Piskarev, the author of the initiative and chairman of the State Duma Commission on Foreign Interference, clarified in a conversation with Russia’s Interfax news agency.
The law also toughens sanctions for improper labelling of materials. Violators can be fined from 30 to 50 thousand rubles, officials – 100-300 thousand, legal entities – up to 500 thousand.
Piskarev added that the current fines are too lenient and “do not deter offences”. The new law will allow to collect fines from special accounts, which foreign agents had to open earlier.
The concept of “foreign agent” appeared in Russian legislation in 2012. Initially, the status was assigned only to non-profit organisations that received foreign funding and engaged in political activities.
Then the law began to be applied to legal entities and individuals – mainly human rights defenders, journalists, activists and media.
In April 2025, the State Duma approved a series of laws that expanded the grounds for granting foreign agent status.
On 19 May, the Russian Ministry of Justice proposed to toughen penalties for violating the law on foreign agents. Currently, individuals face a fine of up to 50,000 rubles (about $600) for the first violation, and such low fines do not ensure compliance with the law, according to the ministry. The Justice Ministry proposes to introduce criminal liability for such violations.