The Ministry of Justice has demanded that the status of six lawyers who left Russia be revoked The Russian Ministry of Justice has demanded that the legal status of six members of the Moscow Bar Association who have been abroad for more than a year be terminated. An official in the bureau told the first department about it. One of them is Nikolai Polozov. Over the years, he represented the interests of Pussy Riot members, Nadizhda Savchenko, Sergey Odltsov and Crimean Tatar activists. The basis for the demands were amendments to the law on the legal profession, which came into effect after Vladimir Putin signed it in the spring of 2024. They allow the question of termination of a lawyer's status if he is outside Russia for more than a year and cannot confirm a valid reason for a long absence. Before that, the FSB had already passed on information about the lawyers who left to the Ministry of Justice. In August 2025, according to the first class, there were eight people on such a list. Among them was Yevgeny Smirnov, who defended the journalist Ivan Safronov and the former chief executive of Inter RAO Karina Tsurkan. In the fall of 2026, the Ministry of Justice began to request the termination of his attorney status through the court. Also, a criminal case was opened against Smirnov for revealing state secrets.

The Ministry of Justice has demanded that the status of six lawyers who left Russia be revoked The Russian Ministry of Justice has demanded that the legal status of six members of the Moscow Bar Association who have been abroad for more than a year be terminated. An official in the bureau told the first department about it. One of them is Nikolai Polozov. Over the years, he represented the interests of Pussy Riot members, Nadizhda Savchenko, Sergey Odltsov and Crimean Tatar activists. The basis for the demands were amendments to the law on the legal profession, which came into effect after Vladimir Putin signed it in the spring of 2024. They allow the question of termination of a lawyer's status if he is outside Russia for more than a year and cannot confirm a valid reason for a long absence. Before that, the FSB had already passed on information about the lawyers who left to the Ministry of Justice. In August 2025, according to the first class, there were eight people on such a list. Among them was Yevgeny Smirnov, who defended the journalist Ivan Safronov and the former chief executive of Inter RAO Karina Tsurkan. In the fall of 2026, the Ministry of Justice began to request the termination of his attorney status through the court. Also, a criminal case was opened against Smirnov for revealing state secrets.