Russian security services are confiscating the passports of high-ranking officials and directors of state-owned companies to prevent them from traveling abroad, fearing defection from the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin, writes the Financial Times (FT), quoted by EFE.

According to multiple sources cited by the FT, law enforcers have tightened public sector travel requirements, requiring senior officials to hand over their travel documents.

The move reflects deep suspicion by the Kremlin and the FSB, the successor to Russia’s KGB, about the loyalty of Russia’s civilian elite, many of whom are particularly opposed to the war in Ukraine and irritated by the conflict’s impact on their lives. ., writes the cited source.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had tightened restrictions on foreign travel for people working in “sensitive” fields.

• “There are stricter rules for this. Somewhere they are formalized, and somewhere they depend on the specific decision of certain employees,” he told the FT.

Since Soviet times, middle-ranking Russian officials with access to state secrets have been required to leave their passports in a safe place by a “special department” in their ministries and companies. However, according to former officials and managers, Russian security services rarely followed the rules. That changed after Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014, when security services began warning against travel to countries such as the United States and Great Britain. After the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the restrictions began to be applied much more widely. (Source: Agerpres)