Putin ally says expat war critics should lose homes

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Vyacheslav Volodin has played a significant role in the Putin presidency and is now chairman of the Duma

Russians who have gone abroad and criticised their country or its military should have their property confiscated, says parliament speaker Vyachlesav Volodin.

A long-time ally of President Vladimir Putin, he singled out citizens who found it "possible to insult Russia, its residents, soldiers and officers, to openly support the villains".

Hundreds of thousands of Russians have fled in response to the war in Ukraine.

Many left to avoid being called up.

Mr Volodin's comments come amid increasing anger among pro-Putin figures at statements made by high-profile critics of the war who have left Russia.

Days into Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine last February, a law was passed that criminalised discrediting Russia's armed forces or spreading "false information" about the war – which Moscow calls a "special military operation".

A number of dissidents have been jailed in Russia for speaking out against the war, including prominent opposition figure Ilya Yashin last month.

One of President Putin's biggest cheerleaders, ex-president Dmitry Medvedev, who sits on the Russian security council, said in recent days that there were "special rules" in wartime for traitors who "wish their fatherland to perish".

His comments came after Russian actor Artur Smolyaninov told exiled newspaper Novaya Gazeta that if he had to take part in the war it would be on Ukraine's side – not Russia's.

Russian MPs called for Smolyaninov to be barred from state-funded films and Russia's investigative committee opened a criminal case into his remarks.

MPs were also infuriated when singer Valery Meladze appear to wish glory to Ukrainians in a New Year concert in Dubai, prompting some calls for his citizenship to be rescinded.

Meladze said later that all he wished for was for the conflict to stop.

Mr Volodin has played an important role in the Putin presidency and was considered the brains behind his election campaign in 2011.

In his post on the social messaging site Telegram, the speaker of the lower house of parliament said it was clear that existing measures to counter insulting remarks were insufficient, and should be treated as calls for extremism.

Such "scoundrels" were living comfortably thanks to their country, he said, leasing their property and receiving rent and royalties at the expense of fellow citizens, while at the same time being able to "publicly drag Russia through the mud".

His proposal to confiscate property was backed by a senior Russian senator, Andrei Klishas, who heads the upper house of parliament's committee on constitutional legislation.

Mr Klishas said last month that Russians who had moved abroad and worked remotely for domestic companies should be made to feel less comfortable.