The State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, has passed amendments in the third and final reading that will allow Russian authorities to conduct “forcible and controlled” deportations of people from the territories where martial law is imposed, the chamber’s website reports.
The bill will allow authorities to detain people for 30 days for violating “bans and restrictions” imposed by presidential orders in the areas where martial law is active. Russia currently has introduced martial law in all Ukraine’s occupied territories except for Crimea.
According to the bill, such regions cannot hold referendums or elections. The only exception is made for the cases when any vote was approved by the Defence Ministry and the FSB.