Russia cancels Olesia's internal passport
Barents Observer journalist Olesia Krivtsova, who fled prosecution in Arkhangelsk last year, is one of several exile-Russians recently to discover that the repressive authorities have cancelled their main ID document.
Without the internal passport you are an undocumented person. It does not only serve as an ID like any other European travel passports. The internal passport is a mandatory identity document for all Russian citizens who are aged 14 and over. It’s what you need to open or close a bank account, receive medical care or receive any government services.
“I’m not worried since I didn’t have any rights before anyway,” says Olesia Krivtsova.
“The only thing that is worrying is how the insane Russian government makes up more perverse ways to pressure those who left the country.”
It was last spring Krivtsova fled house arrest in Russia via Belarus and Lithuania to Kirkenes in northern Norway where she today works as a journalist for the Barents Observer.
The 21 years old faces charges of “discrediting the Russian armed forces” and “justifying terrorism” after posting her anti-war position on social media and putting up flyers in Arkhangelsk after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Olesia first learned that her internal passport had been invalidated after she went to the Russian consulate general in Kirkenes to apply for a renewed foreign passport, the passport needed for travel internationally.
The Russian consul rejected to renew the international passport on grounds that there is an ongoing criminal case against her in Russia. Shortly after, Olesia discovered that she could no longer log into Gosuslugi, the portal for public services run by the Russian state.
The only way to reapply for the internal passport is to return to Russia, she tells.
“That is of course out of question.”
A few days after fleeing Russia, police authorities with the Ministry of Interior placed Olesia Krivtsova on Russia’s wanted list and arrested her in absentia.
Krivtsova is not the only that over the last few days have discovered their internal passports being annulled.
Omsk Civil Association said on Telegram that they have received six messages from people who have encountered the same problem. None of them know the reason why they were deprived their domestic passport, the Russian edition of the Barents Observer reported.
Daniil Chebykin believes that the Russian authorities are currently “testing out” a new scheme to put pressure on people who have left Russia and are against the Putin regime. He mentioned a bill that, if adopted, will allow FSB and MFA officers to confiscate domestic and foreign passports from Russians if there is something “wrong” with the documents.
“I am sure that it will be accepted, of course. This is not some ephemeral threat, this is something that will be used for repression. We now want to issue a guide on how to check your passport; because the problem may be much deeper than we think - many people abroad may not know that their passports are invalid,” Chebykin wrote.
