• Vladimir Putin signed a law allowing the seizure of assets from critics of Russia’s Ukraine war.

• The law targets those convicted of spreading fake news about Russian armed forces.

• This comes alongside another law penalizing the spread of “fake news” against the military.

Vladimir Putin is doubling down on critics of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

On Wednesday, the Russian president signed into law a bill that allows authorities to seize the money, assets, and property of those convicted of “disseminating fake news about Russia’s armed forces as well as committing crimes detrimental to national security,” according to TASS state news agency.

The punishment applies only to assets gained via criminal means or “used for activities aimed against Russia’s national security,” per TASS.

The speaker of Russia’s lower house, Vyacheslav Volodin, said the move seeks to punish “traitors who sling mud at our country and our troops” and “strip those scoundrels of honorary titles, confiscate their assets, money, and other valuables,” according to the Associated Press.

The new law came on top of another law passed in March 2022 that imposes jail terms and fines on those spreading “fake news” against the Russian military.

Multiple people in Russia have already been jailed for criticizing the war in Ukraine, the Associated Press reported in July 2022. Some have fled the country, leaving assets behind that the Kremlin is now eyeing.

Russia’s new law comes as the war in Ukraine approaches its third year, and a month before Putin seeks a fifth presidential term in a presidential election slated for March. The 71-year-old Russian leader is expected to win the race against three opponents.

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