Ilya Yashin has reported that he has been stripped of his Russian citizenship.

Politician Ilya Yashin has reported that the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) has declared him stateless and banned him from entering Russia. Yashin published the relevant certificate from the MVD on his Telegram channel.

The politician learnt this from his lawyer, who represents him in a case concerning his alleged evasion of duties as a “foreign agent” (Part 2, Article 330.1 of the Russian Criminal Code). The case—which prompted a search at Yashin’s parents’ home in January—is currently being considered by Magistrates’ Court No. 167 in Moscow’s Severnoye Tushino district.

“The lawyer reviewed the case materials and found in them a certificate prepared for the court by MVD employees,” Yashin writes. “The document states that I have been assigned the status of LBG—a stateless person banned from entering the Russian Federation. In other words, I have been stripped of Russian citizenship.”

At the same time, the media outlet “Agentstvo” reports that Yashin’s passport has not yet been annulled. The publication obtained this information via the government’s online document validity check service.

“Mediazona” writes that the magistrate judge agreed to call the investigator to testify in court to clarify why Yashin was labelled as stateless.

According to the Federal Law “On Citizenship of the Russian Federation,” the state may only revoke citizenship acquired by application. Grounds for this include, among other things, committing crimes listed in Article 24 of the same law, as well as actions that threaten national security. However, according to Article 6 of the Russian Constitution, a citizen of the Russian Federation cannot be deprived of their citizenship. At this time, it is unclear on what basis Yashin was declared stateless or whether this might have been a technical error.

“Who made the decision to strip me of Russian citizenship, acquired at birth? What was the procedure? How does this decision correspond with the explicit constitutional ban on depriving Russians of their citizenship? If the information provided by the MVD to the court is confirmed, we are looking at a significant precedent and a new wave of Putin’s lawlessness,” the politician writes.

At the end of July, Yashin disappeared from Correctional Colony No. 3 in Smolensk Region, where he was serving his sentence in the “military fakes” case. Two days later, it became known that he and 14 other people held in Russian correctional colonies and pre-trial detention centres were released as part of a large-scale prisoner exchange with Western countries. Most of them, including Yashin, were taken to Germany. Another three people, including politician Vladimir Kara-Murza, were sent to the United States.

Ilya Yashin was detained in late June 2022 while he was walking in a Moscow park. He was arrested for 15 days on charges of disobeying police. While the opposition figure was held in a special detention centre, a criminal case was opened against him and he was remanded in custody.

At the end of 2022, the politician was sentenced to eight and a half years in a penal colony, plus a four-year ban on using the internet, because of a livestream in which he spoke about crimes committed by the Russian army in Bucha. Yashin was found guilty under the article regarding the dissemination of “fakes” about the Russian army, motivated by political hatred (Item “d,” Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Russian Criminal Code). This verdict was upheld by the appellate and cassation instances.

At the same time, the politician was added to the registry of individuals performing the functions of a “foreign agent.” He has repeatedly faced pressure in Correctional Colony No. 3, Smolensk Region, where he was sent to serve his sentence for this criminal case.