Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has revoked the Russian citizenship of eight people whom the agency considers a threat to national security. They include residents of Adygea and Stavropol Region, as well as two people from the South Caucasus. In a statement published on August 29, the FSB said the decisions were made jointly with the Interior Ministry under the law “On Citizenship of the Russian Federation.”
According to the FSB, a resident of Adygea criticized the participation of Muslims in military operations in Ukraine as part of Russia’s armed forces and discussed with people in his circle “the issue of waging ‘jihad’ in Russia.” The security service also claims that the man was a “supporter of ideas of ethnic superiority,” “did not wish to integrate into the linguistic and cultural environment around him,” and demonstrated a “dismissive and exploitative attitude toward the Russian Federation and its indigenous population.” The FSB did not provide his name or ethnicity, quote any of his statements about the war or “jihad,” or explain what specific actions, in its view, indicated his alleged ideas of “ethnic superiority” or unwillingness to integrate.
In Stavropol Region, according to the FSB, another person has had his Russian citizenship revoked. The agency says that he allegedly took part “in carrying out among foreigners activities aimed at shaping a negative perception of Russian culture and a negative attitude toward people of Slavic ethnicity.” In addition, according to the statement, the man called on his compatriots to “sabotage the unified state social policy of support for participants in the SVO,” the Russian authorities’ term for the war in Ukraine. Here too, the FSB provides no details: it does not specify what activities are meant, where or when they took place, or what specific statements or actions served as the basis for the decision to revoke his citizenship.
Two other people affected by the FSB decision are from the South Caucasus. The security service accuses them of “inciting interethnic hatred.” According to the agency, they urged members of diasporas to give up their Russian passports and circulated among their respective ethnic communities claims about the “illegitimacy of Russian citizenship.” The FSB again does not specify which national diasporas are meant, which South Caucasus countries the two people come from, or where in Russia they live. Their names have also not been disclosed.
According to the security service’s statement, eight people in total have lost their Russian citizenship. In addition to the residents of Adygea and Stavropol Region and the two people from the South Caucasus, the list includes three residents of Tver Region and one resident of Chelyabinsk Region.
