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Top Russian officials can't leave country until PM's nod: Report
Russia-Ukraine War: The decision was taken as Russia feared defections from people who oppose the invasion of Ukraine.
High-ranking Russian officials are only allowed to leave the country after they take from Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, a US-based think tank reported. According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Mikhail Mishustin has restricted international travel to official business. The think tank claimed the decision citing a report from Russian news outlet The Bell.
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The outlet reported that employees of Vladimir Putin's administration are not subject to the same restrictions. Earlier, the think tank had said that Russian security services were confiscating passports of Russian officials, ex-officials and executives of state companies to stop them from flying out of Russia.
The decision was taken as Russia feared defections from people who oppose the invasion of Ukraine. The Kremlin and its FSB agency fear people could leave because they privately object to the war amid Western sanctions, the think tank said.
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Several media reports claimed that security officers were demanding some of Russia's elites to hand over travel documents- a Soviet-era rule that had rarely been applied. UK Ministry of Defence intelligence updated in March that some officials had to give their passports to Russia's security service- a move "likely designed to prevent the flight or defection of increasingly disaffected officials."
