Investigative journalists found out that employees of state-owned companies and officials in Russia began to take away passports.
Source: investigative project “System”, created by journalists of Current Time and Radio Liberty, with reference to interlocutors in various structures
Verbatim “System”: “After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, many employees of Russian departments, state companies and state corporations became effectively restricted to travel abroad. Some of them were directly asked to deposit their passports.”
Details: Now such actions of the authorities have intensified. And the reason for this allegedly was the fact that several Russian deputies published in social networks photos from the January holidays in Mexico and Dubai.
The interlocutors of the project said that in some cases it is about giving the document to the FSB for safekeeping, in some cases – to a special department at the place of work. People who do not do this are offered to quit.
In some cases, the FSB officers hint that in case of refusal to hand over the passport, they can somehow “cancel” it – and this document will not help to travel abroad in any case.
According to Sistema’s sources, there is no single rule or order regarding foreign passports. In some companies, they limit themselves to a “strict recommendation” to avoid foreign holidays, in others they prohibit any travel abroad, in others they recommend not to travel outside the Eurasian Economic Zone (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia – ed.) or zones of countries Collective Security Treaty Organization.
A project source close to the Russian presidential administration says most of the Kremlin’s employees “are not even trying” to leave.
At the same time, another source claims that during 2022 some of them “quite calmly” traveled to “neutral” countries from the point of view of the Russian political leadership. But permission for such a trip could be signed personally by the head of the Kremlin administration, Anton Vaino.
Some Russian ministries reportedly release people, for example, to the UAE, but with the obligation to fill out a trip report upon their return.
The project recalls that the tightening of rules for Russian officials to visit abroad became known back in 2014, after the annexation of Crimea by Russia. But then the restrictions affected law enforcement officers and judges. The travel ban was formally explained by the form of access to state secrets.
It is also noted that in the Russian government after 2014, travel approvals were sometimes literally at the level of “go wherever you want, only without photos on social networks.”
For reference: Russian law allows officials and employees of state-owned companies to be restricted from leaving, as well as to confiscate their passports if they have access to state secrets. Also, travel may be restricted for military personnel and those undergoing alternative service, current and former FSB officers for 5 years after their dismissal.
