Kremlin's expanded foreign-agent law repeats Stalin-era repression, Exclusive.kz finds
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The Kremlin's expanded foreign-agent law repeats the Stalin-era script of fabricated conspiracy and political persecution, according to an Exclusive.kz analysis. More than 5,600 people in Russia now face politically motivated prosecution, and the Justice Ministry's registry lists about 1,200 foreign agents. The State Duma approved July measures that strip Russians abroad of bank account access and consular services pending political cases.
Stalin-Era Precedent
In the early 1950s, Moscow accused a group of mainly Jewish doctors of plotting to kill Soviet leaders on Western orders. The doctors were fired, arrested and tortured. After Joseph Stalin died in 1953, Lavrentiy Beria, who headed the NKVD from 1938 to 1945 and filled the Gulag with prisoners for decades, closed the case as fabricated. The incident became a template for repression built on invented conspiracy.
Foreign-Agent Expansion
Russia adopted its foreign-agent law in 2012 to cover organizations receiving foreign funding. After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Kremlin extended the label to anyone deemed inconvenient. In July, the State Duma approved measures allowing authorities to deny Russians abroad access to bank accounts and consular services, such as passport renewal, until political cases under the law are resolved. State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin called those affected 'degenerates and traitors to the motherland.' The Justice Ministry opened a website section recounting alleged anti-state plots from the 1500s to the present.
Persecution Scale
Exclusive.kz estimates that more than 5,600 people in Russia face politically motivated prosecution today, exceeding the roughly 5,000 recorded after Stalin's death. The Justice Ministry's registry lists about 1,200 people declared foreign agents. President Vladimir Putin's approval rating in polls stands around 70 percent, down from 84 percent earlier. The website's historical narrative presents Russia as under continuous siege by foreign enemies, from the 1500s to the present.
What's Next
The July State Duma measures on bank account access and consular services are moving toward implementation for Russians abroad. It remains unclear how Russian courts will enforce those restrictions or how quickly the Justice Ministry's registry will expand beyond the 1,200 cases already listed.
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Kremlin's expanded foreign-agent law repeats Stalin-era repression, Exclusive.kz finds
