Russia's parliament Wednesday backed a new law allowing authorities to confiscate assets from those convicted of speaking out against the military offensive on Ukraine.
Moscow has outlawed criticism of its armed forces through a raft of censorship laws and has thrown dozens of its opponents in prison since it sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022.
On Wednesday, Russia's lower house -- the State Duma -- approved a bill that would enable authorities to seize money, property, assets and valuables from those convicted of criticising the offensive.
The bill, passed in its third reading, now moves to Russia's upper house before going to President Vladimir Putin's desk to be signed into law.
Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said the proposals targeted "scoundrels and traitors, those who today spit on the backs of our soldiers, who have betrayed their homeland, who transfer money to the armed forces of a country that is at war with us."
The measures would also apply to the hundreds of thousands of Russians who fled the country since the start of the military campaign -- a group regularly singled out for attack by hardliners in Moscow.
"Discrediting" or spreading "false information" about Russia's armed forces are already offences that carry up to 15 years in prison.
The Kremlin has repeatedly claimed Russian society is united in backing the military campaign on Ukraine.
At the same time it has escalated a decades-long crackdown on those who dare to speak out publicly.
Almost all of the Kremlin's high-profile opponents -- led by Alexei Navalny -- have been jailed or exiled.
In a rare sign of public protest that has yet to be quashed, Putin critic Boris Nadezhdin on Wednesday officially submitted his bid to stand in March's presidential election.
Nadezhdin has energised the Russian opposition with his pro-peace message in recent weeks, collecting tens of thousands of signatures from people backing his bid to oust the Kremlin leader.
