Moscow’s Interior Ministry has drafted a bill that would require foreigners to enter Russia to sign a “loyalty agreement” that prohibits them from criticizing Russian government policy, “discrediting” Soviet military history or violating “traditional family values.” , reports Reuters.

The new measures, prepared by the Russian government, come after officials in Moscow introduced a series of draconian laws since the start of the invasion of Ukraine last year, the most prominent of which are those dealing with “discrediting” and spreading “false” information about the armed forces . by the country’s forces and related to “foreign agencies”.

Although the latter was introduced back in 2012 and has been gradually expanded since then, new amendments passed by the Russian parliament after the start of the war leave the authorities with the right to declare almost anyone deemed undesirable for various reasons a “foreign agent”.

These and other similar laws have been used by Russian courts to imprison what remains of Russia’s weak opposition, which has become almost non-existent after years of repression, as well as ordinary Russian citizens who have spoken out against Special Operations or taken into custody. various criticisms of the authorities.

Vladimir Putin claims that Russia is fighting for the freedom of the world

But now, as next spring’s presidential election looms, Putin has stepped up his rhetoric about the war he is waging to protect “sacred” Russian civilization in the face of Western “decadence.”

He spoke about this literally a day ago, starting a tirade during which he declared that “the Russian army is fighting for the freedom of the whole world.”

“What do (Westerners) really want? In fact, they want to dismember and rob Russia. If you don’t succeed by force, then chaos ensues,” he said, among many others, in a video conference at the 25th World Council of the Russian People, an organization patronized by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

Now, state news agency TASS notes that a bill drafted by Moscow’s Interior Ministry would force all foreigners entering Russia to sign an agreement that significantly limits what they can say in public.

What restrictions has the Russian government prepared for the entry of foreigners into the country

Upon entering Russia, a citizen of another country will be prohibited from “interfering in the activities of state authorities of the Russian Federation, in any way discrediting the internal and external state policy of the Russian Federation, state authorities and their officials,” the official said. The document was used by TASS.

It will also include points on morality, family, “promotion of non-traditional sexual relations” and history.

The agreement explicitly states that foreigners are prohibited from “distorting the historical truth about the merits of the Soviet people in the defense of the Motherland and their contribution to the victory over fascism.”

TASS, Russia’s best-known state-run news agency, did not specify what punishments foreigners who violate the agreement face while on Russian soil.

Reuters notes that the Russian government has not yet introduced the bill to the Moscow parliament, and it is expected to be debated in committees and in a plenary session of the State Duma, the lower house of the legislature, before being passed and sent to President Vladimir Putin for consideration. promulgation.

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