After the war in Ukraine began, the number of criminal cases in Russia for failing to report a second citizenship or the right to permanent residence abroad increased, Mediazona found.
Since 2022, the number of convictions has been steadily rising: while there were five in the pre-war year of 2021, there were already 17 in the first half of 2025 alone. Defendants are most often fined. Since 2022, those most frequently involved have been Russians with a Ukrainian passport or residence permit.
Infographic: Mediazona
Since the start of the war, the number of administrative cases for missing the deadline to notify the authorities about new citizenship has also been growing: if police drew up 2.6 thousand reports in 2022, by 2023 there were already 4.6 thousand.
Liability for failing to report a second passport or permanent residency appeared in Russia in 2014, after the annexation of Crimea. Before that, Russians were not required to report this, and the state did not keep such records, Mediazona notes.
In the winter of this year, the Russian authorities said they intended to tighten the rules. The Foreign Ministry proposed requiring notification of a second citizenship or residence permit even from Russians who permanently live abroad. At present, this must be done only upon entry into the Russian Federation.